DigeeBooks

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

AN OPRAH BOOK CLUB SELECTION

LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION

An Instant Washington Post, USA Today, and Indie Bestseller

"Epic…. I was just enraptured by the lineage and the story of this modern African-American family…. A combination of historical and modern story—I’ve never read anything quite like it. It just consumed me." —Oprah Winfrey, Oprah Book Club Pick

Finalist for the Kirkus Prize for Fiction • Shortlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize • An Indie Next Pick • A New York Times Book Everyone Will Be Talking About • A People 5 Best Books of the Summer • A Good Morning America 15 Summer Book Club Picks • An Essence Best Book of the Summer • A Time 11 Best Books of the Month • A Washington Post 10 Books of the Month • A CNN Best Book of the Month • A Ms. Most Anticipated Book of the Year • A Goodreads Most Anticipated Book of the Year • A Book Page Writer to Watch • A USA Today Book Not to Miss • A Chicago Tribune Summer Must-Read • An Observer Best Summer Book • A Millions Most Anticipated Book • A Ms. Book of the Month • A Well-Read Black Girl Book Club Pick • A BiblioLifestyle Most Anticipated Literary Book of the Summer • A Deep South Best Book of the Summer • Winner of an AudioFile Earphones Award 

The 2020 National Book Award–nominated poet makes her fiction debut with this magisterial epic—an intimate yet sweeping novel with all the luminescence and force of Homegoing; Sing, Unburied, Sing; and The Water Dancer—that chronicles the journey of one American family, from the centuries of the colonial slave trade through the Civil War to our own tumultuous era. 

The great scholar, W. E. B. Du Bois, once wrote about the Problem of race in America, and what he called “Double Consciousness,” a sensitivity that every African American possesses in order to survive. Since childhood, Ailey Pearl Garfield has understood Du Bois’s words all too well. Bearing the names of two formidable Black Americans—the revered choreographer Alvin Ailey and her great grandmother Pearl, the descendant of enslaved Georgians and tenant farmers—Ailey carries Du Bois’s Problem on her shoulders.

Ailey is reared in the north in the City but spends summers in the small Georgia town of Chicasetta, where her mother’s family has lived since their ancestors arrived from Africa in bondage. From an early age, Ailey fights a battle for belonging that’s made all the more difficult by a hovering trauma, as well as the whispers of women—her mother, Belle, her sister, Lydia, and a maternal line reaching back two centuries—that urge Ailey to succeed in their stead.

To come to terms with her own identity, Ailey embarks on a journey through her family’s past, uncovering the shocking tales of generations of ancestors—Indigenous, Black, and white—in the deep South. In doing so Ailey must learn to embrace her full heritage, a legacy of oppression and resistance, bondage and independence, cruelty and resilience that is the story—and the song—of America itself.

In Jesmyn Ward's latest novel, "The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois," she intertwines the lives of three generations of an African American family in the fictional town of Bois Sauvage, Mississippi. The story begins in the 1940s with the birth of Cheyenne Batiste, a young girl who is born with a caul, which is seen as a sign of good luck. Cheyenne grows up in a loving and supportive family, but she is also aware of the racism and poverty that surrounds her.

As Cheyenne gets older, she becomes involved in the Civil Rights Movement. She joins a group of young people who are fighting for equality and justice. Cheyenne's activism leads her to meet a variety of people, including Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. She also meets a young man named Michael, who becomes the love of her life.

The novel follows Cheyenne and her family through the ups and downs of life. They experience joy, sorrow, love, and loss. But through it all, they remain connected to each other and to the land that they call home. "The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois" is a powerful and moving story about love, family, and the struggle for justice.

The novel has been praised by critics for its lyrical prose and its unflinching portrayal of racism and poverty in the South. It has also been praised for its complex and well-developed characters. "The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois" is a must-read for anyone who is interested in African American history or in the Civil Rights Movement.