Conjure Women, a debut novel of historical fiction, is set on a plantation in the American South ‘in slaverytime, wartime, in freedomtime.’ The two main characters are Miss May Belle and her daughter Rue.

Marse Charles has tasked May Belle with keeping his slaves healthy with her knowledge of herbs and midwifery. But her fellow slaves often come to her for a little hoodoo. She passes on her knowledge as best she can to her daughter, but Rue’s stock in trade leans towards lies and secrets, which she justifies by thinking ‘every wrong she’d ever done, she’d done to protect others.’

After the war, the former slaves build themselves a little village from what remains of the slave cabins. When their children begin to sicken and die, they lose faith in Rue and welcome a smooth-tongued preacher who comes into this midst. Can he drive the devil out?

The story moves back and forth across the timelines, slowly revealing how events unfolded. The characters are richly drawn; the plot complex.

The only white character we come to know is the Marse’s daughter, Miss Varina. She is perhaps more stereotypical than the other characters, being the usual spoiled rotten and pampered prima donna. But she and Rue form an unlikely friendship, symbolized by the turnabout doll Miss May Belle makes for Varina (beautifully depicted on the cover of this book): turned one way, it’s Varina; turned over, it’s Rue, forever intertwined.

I received an arc of this debut novel from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. i apologize for not getting it done in a more timely fashion but many thanks for the opportunity. This author will be one to watch in the future.

This book was sadly not for me, but I know that it is a book that other people would enjoy. It's not badly-written, Afia has SKILL + The themes it treats are some of my faves, but the genre of writing just did not do it enough for me to keep reading till the end. Always always happy to see Ghanaian authors on the market though, so I'm extremely proud of Afia! Happy reading, I hope this book does all the things for you that it could not do for me :)

A very beautifully written book set in the south both at the outbreak of the civil war and in the time after, when now freed enslaved people are transitioning to a world where they now free, no more accepted, however, and fighting to survive.

The story is told by Rue, both when she is a young enslaved girl living on a large plantation with her mother May Belle, and as a freed adult. There are a few chapters told from May Belle's perspective as well. The story switches back and forth in time, and between May Belle and Rue, as well as a bit about Varina, the daughter of the slave owner. As the timelines shift back and forth, the storylines start to come together and fill in the missing bits. The switching of perspectives and narrators was smooth and there was no confusion about who was speaking or where I was.

Rue's mother is the healer on the plantation, and later Rue takes over the role, but as an adult, starts to believe she is losing her magick. (This "magick" is more of the folk kind, not the fantasy kind.) This is a story about their lives, their traditions, their beliefs - and what Rue does to survive.

The writing is rich and atmospheric, and really well-plotted, with plenty of twists. The characters are well-drawn - complex and realistic. There are so many words to describe this tale: heartbreaking, cruel, beautiful, haunting - especially haunting, as the story stayed with me long after I'd turned the last page. Truly memorable.

The cooler weather and changing season brings with it the desire to settle into an engrossing read, and this month’s pick is a historical fiction tale that serves mystery and a hint of magic. Afia Atakora’s debut novel, “Conjure Women” (2020, Random House) spans generations and explores larger themes of faith, secrets, and loyalty on an almost allegorical level, while successfully bringing to life well-developed characters who are complicated, flawed, and captivating.

Following two different timelines, “Conjure Women” takes place on a Southern plantation both during the Civil War as well as after the war has ended. Rue, a young girl during the earlier timeline, grows up in slavery with her mother May Belle, a well-respected and powerful healer and midwife. Learning much about herbs, spells, curses, and childbirth from May Belle, perhaps one of the most important things Rue’s mother teaches her is that “faith in magic was far more potent than magic itself.”

During the novel’s later timeline, May Belle has passed away and Rue is now the community’s conjure woman, yet she lives with doubt and disbelief regarding her practice. When Bean, a baby with piercing black eyes and an unusual pattern on his skin, is born, the town becomes uneasy while Rue feels a connection to the child. A sudden illness spreads through all of the town’s children except for Bean, resulting in heightened suspicions that turn into threats and distrust toward Rue from the townspeople who believe she and Bean have ties to dark magic. Desperate to regain her place in the community, to protect Bean from harm, and to maintain her longstanding secret within the woods she visits regularly at night, Rue’s resourcefulness and determination prove time and again that she will stop at nothing to hold onto what she cares about. At a moment of so much change and uncertainty after the fall of the plantation and the end of the war, Rue takes risks and faces danger while holding onto ties that remain from a previous era.

“Conjure Women” is a novel with numerous strengths. Rue, May Belle, and the plantation’s master’s daughter, Varina, are each intriguing characters with complexities far beyond being “good” or “bad.” The setting, while firmly grounded in the real world and a very unique time in American history, maintains a strong aura of magic and mystery that leads to many questions throughout as to what is real, what is a lie, and what is simply unexplainable. While the writing is beautifully descriptive, the story itself is also captivating – as it jumps back and forth between timelines with each chapter, those with a strong presence in the past still haunt the later story as ghosts more palpable than the spirits who are alluded to.

Check out “Conjure Women” at your closest Denver Public Library location or as an ebook or eaudiobook through denverlibrary.org.

Conjure Women was a slow start, but completely worth the pay off. Initially, it may seem a bit dry, but within the prose is a lyrical story of a young girl trying to uphold her mother's legacy...while also making a name for herself. Morally grey areas are dissected here, in the field of healing, and we are listening to the rationalizing of actions by Rue and are there with her as she makes decisions that will become defining moments in her life.

It is warm, heartbreaking, ruthless, and raw.

In Conjure Women (Random House, 2020), Afia Atakora propels readers head-first into a largely uncharted corner of the Civil War South as she introduces us to three extraordinary women. Atakora’s breathtaking debut closely follows the resilient Rue, who navigates her roles as a conjure woman, taking up midwifery, healing, and hoodooing like her mother. The novel also tells the stories of Rue’s mother Miss May Belle and their former master’s daughter, Varina, who becomes one of Rue’s lifelong friends. Throughout Conjure Women’s five parts, Atakora transports readers throughout the women’s lives before and after the Civil War, offering portraits of both the mundane and otherworldly, the joyful and heart-wrenching. Released on April 7, 2020, Conjure Women is most prominently a novel about women and an exploration of how they resist against the constraints of their roles and find fragments of love and solace.

This novel is undoubtedly a gift. Atakora shines a light on areas of history that are likely unfamiliar to many readers, granting us an unparalleled opportunity to witness life in the Civil War South through the eyes of the novel’s namesake conjure women, Rue and Miss May Belle. As Atakora guides us back and forth in time, she writes with a hand that urges us to never look away, producing images that are nothing short of cinematic and, sometimes, all too vivid. From a series of childbirths, to the black-bean eyes of a newborn boy, to the crack of whips against skin and the networks of scars that come after, to a mother cooking ashcakes for her dead children, to Rue arranging flowers in a dead boy’s casket—Atakora’s voice proves unrelenting. Again and again, she urges readers to face these happenings head-on, performing her own magic as she depicts seemingly indescribable moments with a meticulous, haunting immediacy.

Despite unveiling the darkness that plagues the women’s lives, however, Atakora is also sure to celebrate all the light that exists in between. Although she weaves an unrelenting, heartfelt love between Rue and Bean, the black-eyed boy, and a temporary yet fervent passion between Rue and a lover, it was the love between women in the novel that moved me the most profoundly. Atakora unfolds Rue and her mother’s complex relationship, in which Miss May Belle’s love is often harsh yet leaves Rue with a welling sadness and longing when she hears her mother’s name again years after her passing. The love between Rue and Varina is complicated as well; race and social status set these two girls apart from the beginning, yet their friendship survives a lifetime as they stop at no lengths to protect and care for each other.

All in all, Afia Atakora’s debut novel illuminates the Civil War South’s unforgettable conjure women in a way that feels jarringly authentic and immediate from beginning to end. Conjure Women speaks to the resilience of women that persists today, stunningly transcending the time during which the novel is set and continuing to unfold even after you have finished the last page and tucked the book away.

This book tells the story of Rue, a healing woman and a conjurer of curses. Through learning about her past on a plantation, we see Rue and her mother interact with the other slaves. Rue’s mother teaches her what she needs to survive.
The alternating stories make this a wonderful book to read.

Rep: Black

TW: slavery, rape, lynching, whipping

Part historical, part literary, and part magical realism, this novel had it all! The writing is magnificent, the characters are fully developed, and their struggles are highlighted so well. The story flits back and forth in time, yet still manages to present a well-researched and imaginative depiction of southern America before and after the Civil War. The novel does not shy away from difficult subject matters as it follows the life of 3 women: Miss May Belle, her daughter Rue, and Varina, the daughter of Marse Charles (the plantation owner). All the while, it emphasizes the importance of belonging to a community, and of the resilience of women. We need more books like this that do not hide the atrocities of Black slavery in America, and show the complexity of African culture. I’m so glad I read this book and I strongly urge others to read it, as well!

Atakora weaves the a story of healers through time between two main narrators, May Belle and Rue. One of the most wonderful parts of this narrative is the way the writer builds tension, first in individual moments between characters which build to larger tensions about the secrets of healing, the relationships between women, and the acceptance/rejection of legacy. The imagery in this novel sang on each page.

An epic like no other, Conjure Women follows the lives of three women in their lives on a slave holding plantation during and after the Civil War. Rue, Varina, and May Belle are vibrant characters who will bring you into their stories with ease, and leave you hard pressed to leave them behind. May Belle, a healer and midwife, Rue, her daughter, and Verita, the plantation master's daughter, have a haunting story to tell. When a cursed child is born, the townspeople are alight with fear and accusations. While Rue and May Belle may now be free women according to the law, are they truly free? Or is it all a greater mirage? And will the bonds they hold with Varina hold fast? Or leave them hanging in the folds of their story?

My rating: 3.7

Conjure Women was a solid debut novel. The main character Rue is a healer and a midwife who does some questionable acts for selfish reasons. The story unfolds when Rue delivers a baby who is born with characteristics that are mysterious to many, and this causes Rue's healing abilities to come into doubt. People begin to wonder if she is truly a healer, Rue's behavior draws quite the contrast between healing those in need and acting in hideous ways in order to survive. It throws the whole "do no harm" motto right out the window. This story is very layered but was written very well. I'm excited to read more from this author.

This debut novel is another really good read - there are too many good books out here and so little time! 📚

Set on a plantation in the southern USA both during and after the Civil War (referred to as Slaverytime and Freedomtime respectively) the story focuses on 3 women, mother and daughter healers Miss May Belle and Rue (equally skilled in conjuring curses!) and Varina, the daughter of their "Marse" the plantation owner - Varina who "has never to know anything up there in the House; she could close the blinds if she didn’t like what she was seeing, could turn away in her featherbed".

There was no turning away from the horrors of slavery in this book with whippings, a lynching and allusions to rape peppered throughout.

The story follows these 3 women and their intertwined stories and secrets of life and survival as they coexist on the plantation. It’s an emotional story as you can imagine and although a little over 400 pages the writing and characters keep you engaged throughout.

Conjure Women is a compelling historical fiction novel that had my heart beating with vigor. I love historical fiction. This debut novel does a fantastic job at transporting the reader between pivotal times in the South before and after the Civil War. As a reader I appreciated the research that went into this novel. You could feel the essence of life on the plantation, the relationship between a mother & daughter who are healers & the nexus between the characters. The writing is beautiful. I can't wait to see what's next from Afia Atakora

Conjure Women by Afia Atakora is a great, captivating novel with rich characters and stunning writing.
Many thanks to Random House and NetGalley for the advance review copy.

This is a beautifully told story featuring creative, smart women. Also how beautiful is this cover? The prose is rich and detailed and will appeal to fans of historical and women's fiction.

A moving, epic story written with a skill that belies a debut novel. Rue is one of my favorite characters in recent memory and I was so sad to leave her.

Everything is in a constant state of flux, including the position of a conjure woman. If you want to survive, you adapt or die.

No one knows this better than Rue. During slaverytimes, she watches her mother, the local conjure woman, create salves for the sick and assist women giving birth. This is a role that enslavers protected because a conjure woman’s sole job was to heal and help give life. To enslavers, all they saw were money signs.

In this nonlinear narrative, we follow Rue from slaverytimes to wartimes to freedomtimes and watch as her role shifts according to current social structures. We see Rue’s power threatened as the formerly enslaved search for a new faith that would protect them--unlike the conjure woman’s magic.

I don’t recommend this if you are sensitive to graphic depictions of mutilation, mistreatment, and a pinch of horror. But this is a historical literary fiction book set in the late 1800s during the Civil War, so horror should be expected.

This is an often heartbreaking novel with expected and unexpected twists and turns.

Most of the time I don’t read commercial historical fiction because it centers White/European narratives. I requested and received this eGalley because it centers a Black woman whose job is to heal her community. White communities are used more often than not as a setting or secondary characters whose politics and selfishness affects our main characters. This subversion was refreshing and executed well.

I love the characters in this novel. More specifically, I love to hate most of them. Even though our protagonist Rue is deeply flawed, I need to protect her at all costs. What she witnesses and the decisions she’s forced to make were difficult. Her journey is worth experiencing.

Also, I should have known that man was a weasel. He reminded me of an ex.

What an epic story!!!!!! What can I say about this story? The characters are amazing! Dynamic. Realistic. And relatable. The plot was absolutely amazing! My attention was held the entire time. Twists. Turns. Suspense. I love the entire story!!!! I was sad when I finished. Amparo has an amazing story!!!!

This is unique magical realism in the vein of The Water Dancer. Rue is a Conjure woman who lives in a small community of former slaves. The story flashes between time periods and the reader gets introduced to Rue's mother, Mae Belle. Mae Belle is a healer who's skills incite skepticism within the community after a mysterious illness ravages the community. It was a bit hard to follow in the beginning, but soon I fell into the story. I really liked Rue's mother and would have liked even more from her perspective. This book is a slow burn but is very well crafted- the reader gets a clear picture of the relationship that existed between slaves and their master's family. Beautifully written and haunting- I'd recommend this to readers who want to work on reading stories that take a bit of effort but have staying power.

Healing, haints and Hoodoo, slavery, secrets, love and legacies. In this amazing debut, Afia Atakora took me to this plantation, somewhere in the South with a narratives of the time before the Civil War “Slaverytime” and just after, “Freedomtime”. Most of the novel is in alternating chapters focusing on Miss May Belle, a healer, a midwife, a conjurer of curses and in the years after the war, on her daughter, Rue as she reluctantly, but necessarily takes on her mother’s work. It’s not easy to read and why should it be ? It’s about the awful injustice of slavery. While Atakora doesn’t continuously dwell on the atrocities, these horrific deeds, there are occurrences of the inhumane treatment - a lynching, a man ordered by his “marse” to whip the woman he loves.

While the things that happen during “Slaverytime “ are certainly horrific, life in the aftermath of the War is not easy, but reflects the complexity of what freedom meant to the former slaves, left without a “marse”, with decisions to make, with secrets to be kept or not. The unfolding story of these secrets as the character’s truths are divulged kept me more than captivated wanting to know Rue’s fate.

In an interview (thanks to my friend Libby for the link to the Library Journal article), Atakora says: “ Stories of slavery in America should be told and told and told. We haven’t learned enough from our history, we need to look deeply in the mirror. “ We need to learn. The story became all the more meaningful when I read in her note at the end of the book that she “drew largely” from [book:Slave Narratives: a Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves Texas Narratives, Part 1|18954681]. The relevance of this story right this very minute in our country should and does give the reader pause to reflect on the continued systematic racism and think about how to move forward.

I received a copy of this book from Random House through NetGalley.