Let Us Descend: A Novel

Creator: Jesmyn Ward
BIPOC

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.

 
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# of Pages: 320

Book Binding: Hardcover

Year of Publication: 2023

Publisher: Scribner

Language: en

ISBN: 9781982104498

Jesmyn Ward is a critically acclaimed American author known for her powerful and poignant stories that explore the complexities of race, family, and community in the rural South. Born and raised in DeLisle, Mississippi, Ward draws inspiration from her own experiences growing up in a small, predominantly Black town. She earned her MFA in creative writing from the University of Michigan and has taught at several universities, including the University of South Alabama and Tulane University. Ward's writing has gained widespread recognition, with her novel Salvage the Bones winning the National Book Award for Fiction in 2011. Let Us Descend: A Novel (Oprah's Book Club 2023) is her latest work, solidifying her place as one of the most talented and influential voices in modern literature.

 

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