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.
