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

An Oprah’s Book Club Novel

By: Honoree Fanonne Jeffers

Narrated by: Adenrele Ojo, Karen Chilton, Prentice Onayemi

Length: 29 hrs and 49 mins

Publisher's summary

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

AN OPRAH BOOK CLUB SELECTION

LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION • A FINALIST FOR THE KIRKUS PRIZE FOR FICTION • SHORTLISTED FOR THE CENTER FOR FICTION FIRST NOVEL PRIZE • LONGLISTED FOR THE ASPEN WORDS LITERARY PRIZE

A New York Times 10 Best Books of the Year • A Time Must-Read Book of the Year • A Washington Post 10 Best Books of the Year • An Oprah Daily Top 20 Books of the Year • A BookPage Best Fiction Book of the Year • A Booklist 10 Best First Novels of the Year • A Kirkus 100 Best Novels of the Year • A Parade Pick • A Chicago Public Library Top 10 Best Books of the Year

An Instant Washington Post, USA Today, and Indie Bestseller

"Epic…. I was just enraptured by the lineage and the story of this modern African-American family…. A combination of historical and modern story—I’ve never read anything quite like it. It just consumed me." —Oprah Winfrey, Oprah Book Club Pick

An Indie Next Pick • A New York Times Book Everyone Will Be Talking About • A People 5 Best Books of the Summer • A Good Morning America 15 Summer Book Club Picks • An Essence Best Book of the Summer • A Washington Post 10 Books of the Month • A CNN Best Book of the Month • A Time 11 Best Books of the Month • A Ms. Most Anticipated Book of the Year • A Goodreads Most Anticipated Book of the Year • A BookPage Writer to Watch • A USA Today Book Not to Miss • A Chicago Tribune Summer Must-Read • An Observer Best Summer Book • A Millions Most Anticipated Book • A Ms. Book of the Month • A Well-Read Black Girl Book Club Pick • A BiblioLifestyle Most Anticipated Literary Book of the Summer • A Deep South Best Book of the Summer • Winner of an AudioFile Earphones Award

The 2020 NAACP Image Award-winning poet makes her fiction debut with this National Book Award-longlisted, magisterial epic—an intimate yet sweeping novel with all the luminescence and force of Homegoing; Sing, 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.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2021 Honoree Fanonne Jeffers (P)2021 HarperCollins Publishers

Brilliant!

It’s helped me understand history in such a more clear manner…it helps me to be more empathetic to what the black culture has endured. It brought historical events to life. Brava!!! I could not stop listening!

the love songs of W.E.B. DuBois

This is a well written story that will go down in the bestsellers lists for a long time I believe! Thank you all for a step back in time.

very brilliant, complex and sad

white folks should read this. anyone who wants a better understanding of the multigenerational emotional impacts of slavery-y'all should definitely should read this book. but to be honest-it was not a book I wanted to read. the sexual and racial violence were extremely triggering. also, I'm a student of black studies and a black person-so nothing in the book felt new. this book spends much more time on tragedy and sadness than anything else. I don't completely understand the amount focus and energy spent on the pedophilic white character. his story took up a ton of space in the book. and of course, these stories need telling all of the tragedy in this work is realistic. and considering the erasure of black voices throughout history-this book feels like a historical text. I'm glad to have read it but as a queer, black woman-i prefer to focus on fiction with a balance of sadness and joy.

Breathtaking

The intertwining narratives were extremely well-written. The narration was quite good as well. Fantastic character development. This is a story that needed and deserved to be truthfully told.

The best book I’ve completed in 2022

The storytelling, history, and narration of this novel are incredible. Honoree hit every emotion, and shed light on such important historical and modern day issues through the lens of family lineage.

Loved this!! Didn’t want it to end.

Our ancestors are speaking to us! We just have to learn to listen. Very well done work of historical fiction.

In awe

This is an enormously important story, and it is amazing that the it is the debut novel for the brilliant author. But the story is further enhanced by the audio performers—some of the best I’ve ever heard. They make a complex timeline and book structure come to life. I cannot recommend this book, especially the audio version, highly enough.

Excellent Historical Work!

Excellent work!
Birn, raised and currently living in Alabama so I did not particularly care for some of the character voices and reading of the dialect but, the integrity of the author’s work was still clear. Enjoyed the actual book more because of that tiny audible flaw. Loved the book still!

An exquisite history lesson in literary form.

This was so much more than I had imagined. The interweaving of stories is seamless and surprising. I not only enjoyed the story and storytelling, I feel like I’ve completed a much needed course in the history of our nation from myriad perspectives. I’ll definitely read this again.

Great Book!

Not a big reader, but the only thing I’ve liked better in last few years is “ The Mothers”