top of page

Author: Honoree Fanonne Jeffers

 

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

AN OPRAH BOOK CLUB SELECTION

An Instant Washington Post, USA Today, and Indie Bestseller

 

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 HomegoingSing, 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.

The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois

SKU: 9780062942951
$20.00Price
  • If you are not satisfied with your purchase, you may return it for a refund. We will issue a refund for the purchase price of the item plus any applicable taxes to your original form of payment for items returned within 30 days. All returned items must be in their brand new, original condition; shrink-wrapped products must be unopened. Shipping fees are not refunded.

    Please send an email to orders@dabookjoint.com for a return authorization number.

  • When do you ship? Orders are shipped Monday – Friday.

    Where do you ship to? We ship domestically as well as internationally. If you have a question about shipments, please email orders@dabookjoint.com.

    How do you ship? Most of our orders ship via USPS. We will also use UPS at your request. Since we do ship most of our orders via USPS, our website will only allow you to choose that as a shipping option. However, there is a comments box on the shipping selection screen where you can write in your desired shipping method. Small orders going to Canada and internationally will almost always be sent by USPS to help save on shipping cost and brokerage fees. Orders going to APO/FPO boxes will also be sent via USPS.

    Rates to ship? We charge a flat rate for shipping of $3.50 per book. Any orders over $50 will ship for free.

    How to track an order that's been shipped? If a tracking number is available and an email address was provided at the time of order, you will receive an automated email from either UPS or USPS with your tracking number once the order ships.

    Are the items in stock? All items are normally held in stock. However, we may sometimes run out due to sudden demand, in which case we will notify you and inform you of the date we expect to receive more stock.

    What are the lead times? We aim to ship orders within 2 working days for domestic orders and 4 working days for international orders. However, this may sometimes be longer due to other circumstances such as order volume and backorders.

bottom of page