Let us descend : a novel
(Book)
Author
Published
New York : Scribner, 2023.
Appears on these lists
Status
Central - Adult Fiction
F WARD
3 available
F WARD
3 available
Columbia Pike - Adult Fiction
F WARD
2 available
F WARD
2 available
Glencarlyn - Adult Fiction
F WARD
1 available
F WARD
1 available
Copies
| Location | Call Number | Status | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Central - Adult Fiction | F WARD | Available | |
| Central - Adult Fiction | F WARD | Available | |
| Central - Adult Fiction | F WARD | Available | |
| Central - Adult Fiction | F WARD | Checked Out | May 29, 2025 |
| Cherrydale - Adult Fiction | F WARD | Checked Out | May 24, 2025 |
Description
OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB PICK • Instant New York Times Bestseller • Named one of the best books of 2023 by The Washington Post, Vanity Fair, The Boston Globe, Time, The New Yorker, and more. “Nothing short of epic, magical, and intensely moving.” —Vogue • “A novel of triumph.” —The Washington Post • “Harrowing, immersive, and other-worldly.” —People From “one of America’s finest living writers” (San Francisco Chronicle) and “heir apparent to Toni Morrison” (LitHub)—comes a haunting masterpiece about an enslaved girl in the years before the Civil War that’s destined to become a classic.Let Us Descend describes a journey from the rice fields of the Carolinas to the slave markets of New Orleans and into the fearsome heart of a Louisiana sugar plantation. A journey that is as beautifully rendered as it is heart wrenching, the novel is “[t]he literary equivalent of an open wound from which poetry pours” (NPR). Annis, sold south by the white enslaver who fathered her, is the reader’s guide. As she struggles through the miles-long march, Annis turns inward, seeking comfort from memories of her mother and stories of her African warrior grandmother. Throughout, she opens herself to a world beyond this world, one teeming with spirits: of earth and water, of myth and history; spirits who nurture and give, and those who manipulate and take. While Annis leads readers through the descent, hers is ultimately a story of rebirth and reclamation. From one of the most singularly brilliant and beloved writers of her generation, this “[s]earing and lyrical…raw, transcendent, and ultimately hopeful” (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution) novel inscribes Black American grief and joy into the very land—the rich but unforgiving forests, swamps, and rivers of the American South. Let Us Descend is Jesmyn Ward’s most magnificent novel yet.
More Details
Format
Book
Edition
First Scribner hardcover edition.
Physical Desc
305 pages ; 22 cm
Language
English
ISBN
9781982104498, 198210449X
Notes
Description
"Let Us Descend is a reimagining of American slavery, as beautifully rendered as it is heart-wrenching. Searching, harrowing, replete with transcendent love, the novel is a journey from the rice fields of the Carolinas to the slave markets of New Orleans and into the fearsome heart of a Louisiana sugar plantation. Annis, sold south by the white enslaver who fathered her, is the reader's guide through this hellscape. As she struggles through the miles-long march, Annis turns inward, seeking comfort from memories of her mother and stories of her African warrior grandmother. Throughout, she opens herself to a world beyond this world, one teeming with spirits: of earth and water, of myth and history; spirits who nurture and give, and those who manipulate and take. While Ward leads readers through the descent, this, her fourth novel, is ultimately a story of rebirth and reclamation." -- Provided by publisher.
Awards
Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction finalist
Excerpt
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These books have the appeal factors haunting, stylistically complex, and unconventional, and they have the theme "facing racism"; the genre "african american fiction"; the subjects "enslaved children," "slaveholders," and "race relations"; and include the identities "black" and "multiracial."
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These haunting novels capture the terror of enslavement through the perspectives of protagonists who make contact with a world just beyond their own: the eponymous Junie encounters her sister's ghost, while Descend's Annis receives guidance from a spirit. -- Basia Wilson
With their lyrical, compelling prose and atmospheric Southern settings, these historical fiction novels capture the grueling experience of enslavement through the eyes of young women yearning for freedom. -- Basia Wilson
Using lyrical, stylistically complex language to dramatize grave and haunting material, these literary novels tell own voices stories of the enslavement of African Americans. Slaves born of white fathers center both of these compelling dramas. -- Michael Shumate
Featuring a mother haunted by slavery in the form of her daughter's ghost (Beloved) and a girl surviving slavery with the help of a spirit guide (Descend), these moving historical novels depict enslaved African Americans' internal and external worlds. -- Michael Shumate
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In these compelling historical novels, descriptive realism and atmospheric mysticism are blended to tell stories of enslaved girls' epic journeys: as an ascent to freedom in 17th-century Brazil (Palmares), as a descent into hell in 19th-century America (Let Us Descend). -- Michael Shumate
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The hallmarks of these African-American writers are an image-rich literary style and deeply moving, character-driven fiction that features portraits of poverty, drug abuse, and family dysfunction. Jesmyn Ward's books are set mainly in present-day Mississippi, and Bernice McFadden's novels have several different settings in history and location. -- Jen Baker
Both Jesmyn Ward and William Faulkner write of human drama in a first-person style through characters that, though uneducated, have rich, complex inner lives and speak with erudition and lyricism. Both authors have set multiple novels in richly detailed locations of the American South that are entirely of their own creation. -- Shauna Griffin
Tayari Jones and Jesmyn Ward both write deeply moving literary novels following African American characters living in the South. Known for their stylistically complex writing styles and emotionally charged plotlines, these authors deftly capture the various traumas and misfortunes of their thoughtfully rendered characters. -- Catherine Coles
Both Celeste Ng and Jesmyn Ward pen moving novels which explore family, identity, and heritage, albeit in in very different geographic and cultural settings. Themes of connection and loss are woven through their respective bodies of work in a way that may resonate with readers who enjoyed one or the other. -- Michael Jenkins
The moving fiction and nonfiction books of Randall Kenan and Jesmyn Ward use lyrical, richly descriptive prose to paint intense portraits of the lives of impoverished African Americans in the rural, contemporary American South, including specifically addressing the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina. -- Michael Shumate
Both Jesmyn Ward and James Baldwin are known for using gritty, stylistically complex prose to explore the complexities of the Black experience in their moving and lyrical literary fiction and nonfiction work. -- Stephen Ashley
Ernest Gaines and Jesmyn Ward write tragic, and profoundly moving literary fiction about the African American experience. Both spotlight compelling characters whose thought-provoking stories are simultaneously haunting and hopeful. Gaines occasionally uses situational humor to leaven the bleak message, while Ward's style is resolutely serious. -- Jen Baker
Both authors draw on African-America culture, history, and identity in presenting own voices stories with a strong sense of place. Culturally diverse, character-driven storytelling marks their thought-provoking, moving plots. -- Michael Jenkins
Readers looking for lyrical, stylistically complex Southern fiction that is unflinching in its bleakness should explore the works of both Cormac McCarthy and Jesmyn Ward. Ward's books tend to be ultimately moving, while McCarthy's tend to be disturbing throughout. -- Stephen Ashley
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These authors' works have the appeal factors bleak, haunting, and stylistically complex, and they have the genre "african american fiction"; the subjects "extended families," "african american families," and "race relations"; and characters that are "complex characters" and "flawed characters."
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Citations
APA Citation, 7th Edition (style guide)
Ward, J. (2023). Let us descend: a novel (First Scribner hardcover edition.). Scribner.
Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation, 17th Edition (style guide)Ward, Jesmyn. 2023. Let Us Descend: A Novel. New York: Scribner.
Chicago / Turabian - Humanities (Notes and Bibliography) Citation, 17th Edition (style guide)Ward, Jesmyn. Let Us Descend: A Novel New York: Scribner, 2023.
Harvard Citation (style guide)Ward, J. (2023). Let us descend: a novel. First Scribner hardcover edn. New York: Scribner.
MLA Citation, 9th Edition (style guide)Ward, Jesmyn. Let Us Descend: A Novel First Scribner hardcover edition., Scribner, 2023.
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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