Conjure Women: A Novel
(Libby/OverDrive eBook, Kindle)

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Published
Random House Publishing Group , 2020.
Status
Checked Out

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Description

A mother and daughter with a shared talent for healing—and for the conjuring of curses—are at the heart of this dazzling first novel  LONGLISTED FOR THE CENTER FOR FICTION FIRST NOVEL PRIZE • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times • NPR • ParadeBook Riot PopMatters“Lush, irresistible . . . It took me into the hearts of women I could otherwise never know. I was transported.”—Amy Bloom, New York Times bestselling author of White Houses and Away Conjure Women is a sweeping story that brings the world of the South before and after the Civil War vividly to life. Spanning eras and generations, it tells of the lives of three unforgettable women: Miss May Belle, a wise healing woman; her precocious and observant daughter Rue, who is reluctant to follow in her mother’s footsteps as a midwife; and their master’s daughter Varina. The secrets and bonds among these women and their community come to a head at the beginning of a war and at the birth of an accursed child, who sets the townspeople alight with fear and a spreading superstition that threatens their newly won, tenuous freedom.   Magnificently written, brilliantly researched, richly imagined, Conjure Women moves back and forth in time to tell the haunting story of Rue, Varina, and May Belle, their passions and friendships, and the lengths they will go to save themselves and those they love.Praise for Conjure Women“[A] haunting, promising debut . . . Through complex characters and bewitching prose, Atakora offers a stirring portrait of the power conferred between the enslaved women. This powerful tale of moral ambiguity amid inarguable injustice stands with Esi Edugyan’s Washington Black.”Publishers Weekly (starred review) “An engrossing debut . . . Atakora structures a plot with plenty of satisfying twists. Life in the immediate aftermath of slavery is powerfully rendered in this impressive first novel.”Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

More Details

Format
eBook
Street Date
04/07/2020
Language
English
ISBN
9780525511496

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Similar Titles From NoveList

NoveList provides detailed suggestions for titles you might like if you enjoyed this book. Suggestions are based on recommendations from librarians and other contributors.
These books have the theme "facing racism"; and the subjects "plantation life," "slavery," and "freed people."
These books have the appeal factors haunting, stylistically complex, and nonlinear, and they have the genre "african american fiction"; the subjects "slavery," "freed people," and "freedom seekers"; include the identity "black"; and characters that are "complex characters."
These books have the subjects "midwives," "women healers," and "plantation life."
Set before the Civil War (The Water Dancer) and after it (Conjure Women), these own voices historical fiction novels center on former slaves who use their unique preternatural abilities to help their communities. Both novels are character-driven and stylistically complex. -- Kaitlin Conner
These compelling, nonlinear books feature a mix of stories of slavery and stories of freedom. Upper Country takes place largely in free Canada, while Conjure Women focuses on a Southern United States plantation. -- Mara Zonderman
These own voices historical fiction novels tell atmospheric and heartwrenching stories of slavery in the American South. Prophets is about the love between two enslaved men; Conjure is about enslaved women healers before, during, and after the Civil War. -- Heather Cover
These compelling, intricately plotted African American historical fiction novels are both own voices. While both novels feature characters facing racism, Conjure takes place just after the Civil War, whereas Sisters has a World War II setting. -- Heather Cover
Readers looking for own voices stories of enslaved protagonists with genre fiction elements may appreciate both novels. Conjure Women touches on witchcraft and magic; Washington Black is a picaresque adventure story. -- Autumn Winters
These books have the appeal factors haunting, stylistically complex, and nonlinear, and they have the theme "facing racism"; the genre "southern fiction"; and the subjects "slavery," "freed people," and "southern states history."
These books have the appeal factors stylistically complex and nonlinear, and they have the theme "facing racism"; the genre "african american fiction"; the subjects "african americans," "north american people," and "southern states history"; include the identity "black"; and characters that are "complex characters."
Although Remembrance places a bit more emphasis on magic than Conjure Women, both intricately plotted debut novels depict enslaved women who must hone their own powers in order to survive. Remembrance includes a contemporary storyline, while Conjure Women is entirely historical. -- Autumn Winters
Set both before and after the Civil War, these character-driven and intricately plotted historical novels focus on Black women healers and their attempts to halt the spread of mysterious diseases that threaten to engulf their communities. -- Ashley Lyons

Similar Authors From NoveList

NoveList provides detailed suggestions for other authors you might want to read if you enjoyed this book. Suggestions are based on recommendations from librarians and other contributors.
These authors' works have the appeal factors haunting and nonlinear, and they have the genre "african american fiction"; the subjects "plantation life," "slavery," and "freed people"; and characters that are "complex characters."
These authors' works have the genre "southern fiction"; and the subjects "plantation life," "slavery," and "freed people."
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These authors' works have the appeal factors haunting, stylistically complex, and nonlinear, and they have the genre "african american fiction"; and the subjects "slavery," "freed people," and "southern states history."
These authors' works have the appeal factors dialect-filled, and they have the subjects "midwives," "women healers," and "plantation life."
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These authors' works have the appeal factors emotionally intense, stylistically complex, and nonlinear, and they have the subjects "plantation life," "slavery," and "freed people."
These authors' works have the appeal factors emotionally intense, stylistically complex, and own voices, and they have the genre "african american fiction"; the subjects "african americans," "american people," and "north american people"; include the identity "black"; and characters that are "complex characters."

Published Reviews

Booklist Review

Rue is among other formerly enslaved people who are learning to balance the choices of true freedom, post-Civil War. They remain on their plantation with no master, and a burned-down big house. Rue inherits the calling of being a midwife and a healer, taught to her by her beloved mother, May Belle. Atakora's debut floats between Rue's freedom time and her slavery time, revealing Rue's reminiscences of her mother's last days, her friendship with the master's daughter, and all the secrets she learned and developed before the war. The community's faith in Rue and her conjure practices are challenged when a preacher converts them all before a deadly sickness sweeps through the children on the plantation. Atakora skillfully intertwines the details of both time periods, which helps shape a delicate picture of Rue. The reader understands the power of her magic juxtaposed with her desire for love, family, and a sense of normalcy. Although Rue may make unethical decisions, readers root for her to protect the secrets that shield the rest of the community from further hardship.--LaParis Hawkins Copyright 2020 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
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Publisher's Weekly Review

Atakora's haunting, promising debut explores the legacy of a Southern plantation in the years leading up to and following the Civil War. Miss May Belle, a "conjure woman" known for casting spells to relieve ailments, helps fellow enslaved women with childbirth and treats their cruel master, Marse Charles, for sexually transmitted infections. Alternating in chapters titled "Slaverytime" and "Freedomtime," Atakora follows May Belle's daughter, Rue, who learned her mother's knowledge before her death. At 20, Rue continues living on the plantation grounds with most of the other former slaves after the war ends and Marse Charles disappears. His daughter, Varina, however, stays behind in hiding from those wishing to seek vengeance for the master's abuses. After Rue helps with the birth of an unusually pale baby born with "oil-slicked black irises," the infant is blamed for the spread of a mysterious disease. A charismatic black preacher named Bruh Abel promises that a baptism will heal the afflicted, while Rue concocts her own plan and continues to secretly care for Varina, whom she grew up with and takes pity on. Through complex characters and bewitching prose, Atakora offers a stirring portrait of the power conferred between the enslaved women. This powerful tale of moral ambiguity amid inarguable injustice stands with Esi Edugyan's Washington Black. Agent: Amelia Atlas, International Creative Management. (Mar.)Correction: An earlier version of this review misstated the book's title.

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Library Journal Review

DEBUT Deftly interwoven and emotionally involving, Atakora's accomplished debut moves among several eras. There's slaverytime, when Miss May Belle serves as both healer and conjurer of curses on the plantation of Marse Charles as she teaches daughter Rue her ways. There's wartime, when Union soldiers march in and Varina, the hapless but demanding daughter of the master and a childhood playmate to Rue, suffers multiple losses. And there's freedomtime, when Miss Rue, now midwife/healer to the old plantation's community of freedmen, is suspected of witchcraft, though she says she's "just a woman who knows some things." Rue feels an uncanny affinity for a difficult baby she has delivered, a baby that could be her punishment or her salvation if only she plans things correctly, and she has an equally complicated relationship with preacher Bruh Abel, whom she thinks of as a sham even as he tries to turn her from her conjuring ways. Meanwhile, a secret she hides deep in the woods drives the narrative forward. VERDICT Atakora effectively handles the before-during-and-after structure, enriching her story. If its center is the vibrant Rue, the entire community finally feels like the main character. Highly recommended. [See Prepub Alert, 9/9/19.]--Barbara Hoffert, Library Journal

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Kirkus Book Review

An engrossing debut novel explores the lives of emancipated slaves struggling to survive in the years just after the Civil War.Atakora's historical novel is set on a ruined plantation in the rural South so remote that its black inhabitants have rarely seen white people in the years since the war ended. In some ways, freedom hasn't yet changed their lives; with few resources and little knowledge of the outside world, most of them have remained on the land they used to work for the late Marse Charles. The book's protagonist is a young woman named Rue. She is the town's midwife and healer, having learned her skills from her mother, Miss May Belle, who was beloved and trusted by her neighbors (and occasionally called upon to cast curses). After her mother's death and amid the chaos that follows the war, Rue reluctantly takes May Belle's place. Although Rue has lived among them all her life, the townspeople begin to turn against her after she delivers a baby for a woman named Sarah. Born with a caul, pale skin, and strange black eyes, the boy, called Bean, unnerves them. Then other children fall ill; despite Rue's herbs and tinctures, some die, and whispers spreadis she a healer or a witch? The townspeople turn for comfort to a charismatic itinerant preacher called Bruh Abel, and Rue must decide whether he's an adversary or an ally, all while keeping a dangerous secret. Based in part on narratives of formerly enslaved people gathered by the Works Progress Administration in the 1930s, the novel gives its characters complex lives, rendered in well-crafted prose. Although Atakora writes of such horrors as lynchings, beatings, and rapes, most of her story focuses on the intense relationships among people trying to make sense of a world turned upside down. Mother-child relationships, especially, are at the center of the book. Using frequent flashbacks to "slaverytime" and "wartime" and occasional jumps to the future, Atakora structures a plot with plenty of satisfying twists.Life in the immediate aftermath of slavery is powerfully rendered in this impressive first novel. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
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Booklist Reviews

Rue is among other formerly enslaved people who are learning to balance the choices of true freedom, post–Civil War. They remain on their plantation with no master, and a burned-down big house. Rue inherits the calling of being a midwife and a healer, taught to her by her beloved mother, May Belle. Atakora's debut floats between Rue's freedom time and her slavery time, revealing Rue's reminiscences of her mother's last days, her friendship with the master's daughter, and all the secrets she learned and developed before the war. The community's faith in Rue and her conjure practices are challenged when a preacher converts them all before a deadly sickness sweeps through the children on the plantation. Atakora skillfully intertwines the details of both time periods, which helps shape a delicate picture of Rue. The reader understands the power of her magic juxtaposed with her desire for love, family, and a sense of normalcy. Although Rue may make unethical decisions, readers root for her to protect the secrets that shield the rest of the community from further hardship. Copyright 2020 Booklist Reviews.

Copyright 2020 Booklist Reviews.
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Library Journal Reviews

Around the time of the Civil War, Rue lives with her mother on the plantation of Marse Charles, where they both act as midwives, healers, and conjurers of curses. Rue, too, knows secrets about the plantation owner's daughter that she shares with stories about other families she tends. From a Pushcart nominee and finalist for the Hurston/Wright Award for College Writers.

Copyright 2019 Library Journal.

Copyright 2019 Library Journal.
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Library Journal Reviews

DEBUT Deftly interwoven and emotionally involving, Atakora's accomplished debut moves among several eras. There's slaverytime, when Miss May Belle serves as both healer and conjurer of curses on the plantation of Marse Charles as she teaches daughter Rue her ways. There's wartime, when Union soldiers march in and Varina, the hapless but demanding daughter of the master and a childhood playmate to Rue, suffers multiple losses. And there's freedomtime, when Miss Rue, now midwife/healer to the old plantation's community of freedmen, is suspected of witchcraft, though she says she's "just a woman who knows some things." Rue feels an uncanny affinity for a difficult baby she has delivered, a baby that could be her punishment or her salvation if only she plans things correctly, and she has an equally complicated relationship with preacher Bruh Abel, whom she thinks of as a sham even as he tries to turn her from her conjuring ways. Meanwhile, a secret she hides deep in the woods drives the narrative forward. VERDICT Atakora effectively handles the before-during-and-after structure, enriching her story. If its center is the vibrant Rue, the entire community finally feels like the main character. Highly recommended. [See Prepub Alert, 9/9/19.]—Barbara Hoffert, Library Journal

Copyright 2019 Library Journal.

Copyright 2019 Library Journal.
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Publishers Weekly Reviews

Atakora's haunting, promising debut explores the legacy of a Southern plantation in the years leading up to and following the Civil War. Miss May Belle, a "conjure woman" known for casting spells to relieve ailments, helps fellow enslaved women with childbirth and treats their cruel master, Marse Charles, for sexually transmitted infections. Alternating in chapters titled "Slaverytime" and "Freedomtime," Atakora follows May Belle's daughter, Rue, who learned her mother's knowledge before her death. At 20, Rue continues living on the plantation grounds with most of the other former slaves after the war ends and Marse Charles disappears. His daughter, Varina, however, stays behind in hiding from those wishing to seek vengeance for the master's abuses. After Rue helps with the birth of an unusually pale baby born with "oil-slicked black irises," the infant is blamed for the spread of a mysterious disease. A charismatic black preacher named Bruh Abel promises that a baptism will heal the afflicted, while Rue concocts her own plan and continues to secretly care for Varina, whom she grew up with and takes pity on. Through complex characters and bewitching prose, Atakora offers a stirring portrait of the power conferred between the enslaved women. This powerful tale of moral ambiguity amid inarguable injustice stands with Esi Edugyan's Washington Black. Agent: Amelia Atlas, International Creative Management. (Mar.)Correction: An earlier version of this review misstated the book's title.

Copyright 2020 Publishers Weekly.

Copyright 2020 Publishers Weekly.
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Citations

APA Citation, 7th Edition (style guide)

Atakora, A. (2020). Conjure Women: A Novel . Random House Publishing Group.

Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation, 17th Edition (style guide)

Atakora, Afia. 2020. Conjure Women: A Novel. Random House Publishing Group.

Chicago / Turabian - Humanities (Notes and Bibliography) Citation, 17th Edition (style guide)

Atakora, Afia. Conjure Women: A Novel Random House Publishing Group, 2020.

Harvard Citation (style guide)

Atakora, A. (2020). Conjure women: a novel. Random House Publishing Group.

MLA Citation, 9th Edition (style guide)

Atakora, Afia. Conjure Women: A Novel Random House Publishing Group, 2020.

Note! Citations contain only title, author, edition, publisher, and year published. Citations should be used as a guideline and should be double checked for accuracy. Citation formats are based on standards as of August 2021.

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