Sujoya - theoverbookedbibliophile's Reviews > The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois

4.5⭐️

“We are the earth, the land. The tongue that speaks and trips on the names of the dead as it dares to tell these stories of a woman’s line. Her people and her dirt, her trees, her water.”

The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois by Honoree Fanonne Jeffers is a sweeping multigenerational saga that delves deep into the roots, the land , the ancestry and legacy of a mixed race African American family . The narrative switches between the past in the "Song" segments of the novel and the present day story narrated by Ailey Pearl Garfield .While the past segments span generations of her mother's family in Chicasetta in present day Georgia, the present day narrative starts with Ailey the youngest child of a doctor and a school teacher with two older sisters being raised in the 'city'.

When Ailey as an adult embarks on researching her family's history, her lineage is traced to its indigenous roots in the Creek village and the land which was taken from its indigenous owners only to be allotted to settlers who bring with them slave labor from Africa to work the plantations they build on the very same land in pre-Civil War America.

This is a lengthy read and to be honest I was intimidated by the sheer volume of this book which is why I had put it aside in favor of other books . But I was pleasantly surprised at how engaging this novel was and the amazing journey this story takes us on spanning decades of the history of a nation and its people . Ailey's personal experiences with abuse, loss, grief and search for her own purpose in life and a place in her own family connects with the stories of those who came before her -racially diverse generations of grandparents, aunts, uncles , cousins and extended family. While Ailey's research takes her through a history of slavery and oppression, trauma and abuse, the present day narrative delves into issues pertaining to feminism, education, racial identity , shared trauma, sexual identity and substance abuse.

Compelling and immersive, emotional and informative , The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois is an experience that I would definitely recommend.