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    Let Us Descend: A Novel
    Let Us Descend: A Novel
    Let Us Descend: A Novel
    Audiobook8 hours

    Let Us Descend: A Novel

    Written by Jesmyn Ward

    Narrated by Jesmyn Ward

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    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.

    Editor's Note

    One of the greatest writers …

    Drawing on Dante’s “Inferno” and America’s sordid history, one of the greatest writers of our generation delivers the gut-wrenching story of an enslaved girl with a powerful ancestry. As Annis makes the grueling journey between plantations by way of New Orleans’ slave markets, she relies on lessons passed down from her mother — teachings that connect her with nature, protective spirits, and herself. Ward (“Sing, Unburied, Sing”) astounds yet again.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSimon & Schuster Audio
    Release dateOct 24, 2023
    ISBN9781797161518
    Author

    Jesmyn Ward

    JESMYN WARD received her MFA from the University of Michigan and is currently a professor of creative writing at Tulane University. She is the author of the novels Where the Line Bleeds and Salvage the Bones, which won the 2011 National Book Award, and Sing, Unburied, Sing, which won the 2017 National Book Award. She is also the editor of the anthology The Fire This Time and the author of the memoir Men We Reaped, which was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. From 2008 to 2010, Ward had a Stegner Fellowship at Stanford University. She was the John and Renée Grisham Writer in Residence at the University of Mississippi for the 2010–2011 academic year. In 2016, the American Academy of Arts and Letters selected Ward for the Strauss Living Award. She lives in Mississippi.

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    Reviews for Let Us Descend

    4/5

    126 ratings10 reviews

    What our readers think

    Readers find this title to be a heart-wrenching and hauntingly beautiful book. The poetic writing style and deep emotions make every sentence a joy to read, even the ones that tear the reader open. While some reviewers felt that the slave woman's story was overshadowed by the conversations with an ineffectual spirit, overall, the book is considered to be a beautifully written and redemptive novel-length poem.

    What did you think?

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      The author did the audiobook and I truly enjoyed how this story sounded like poetry but also a very deep story I would definitely recommend to anyone who loves historical fiction. Our ancestors are always with us when we call. ?
    • 3/5
      Beautiful prose and narration. Unfortunately, I frequently got confused by what was real and what was in Annis’ mind.
    • 5/5
      Beautiful, lyrical prose. Brings to life a very tragic, sad and shameful part of history and tells the story of the brutal oppression of so many people from the eyes of one who experienced it, which was very hard to hear. The writing is like poetry.
    • 5/5
      Heart wrenching and hauntingly beautiful in its power, what a book
    • 5/5
      Pure poetry, heartbreakingly deep. I loved every sentence even the ones that tore me open to read.
    • 5/5
      So beautifully written, so beautifully read. Unutterably sad yet redemptive, a novel-length poem.
    • 5/5
      Thank you, thank you, thank you. That first sentence pierced my heart!
    • 2/5
      The slave woman’s story was overshadowed by her constant conversations with an ineffectual spirit which really was of no help to her. I found the book really didn’t go anywhere.

      2 people found this helpful

    • 5/5
      One of the most beautifully written books I’ve ever read. The author’s voice is perfect to listen to during the main character’s journey. I am in love with this book.
    • 4/5
      Very evocative and poetic writing. i sometimes got lost in the words, perhaps because I was listening rather than reading,

      1 person found this helpful