Reviews

The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers

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tellsbooks's review against another edition

5.0

Wow.

This was an intense read and worth every single second of the 800+ pages. I almost didn't want it to end so I kept pushing those last couple pages because it felt like we were together, Ms. Jeffers and I, as she walked me through legacy and history and experience.

Reading this book, I felt... absorbed. It felt like I was present in every era, looking through the trees at the people before me, staring through the slats and the cracks in between the doors. It was emotionally gripping, thoughtful, relatable and sometimes unbearable. Ms. Jeffers easily, seamlessly moved through the 1700s, 1800s, 1900s and brought you through 5 generations of family history from pre-slavery to the late 90s/early 00s.

This book has completely overwhelmed me. It has overwhelmed every part of my mind.

Ailey.

My god what a character! What a woman. A character created from a line of perfectly crafted women characters. A warrior. A petty, messy, delightful, traumatized, hurt, loving, studious, and reflective queen. A fighter. All of the women in this story and the multitude of things that they have been through displays a heavy Alice Walker, The Color Purple, influence. The through-line that Black women, they keep going, they keep fighting is such a cherished lesson to share with others, especially when we still feel the remnants of these times and are still fighting through so much.

The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois is such a powerful story of resilience. Resilience that no one should have to possess the way that the ancestors had to possess it. A very direct story about the steps you take to get somewhere, to reach a free place, to go in a direction different from where you started out.. This story got me on levels. The amount of research that Ms. Jeffers no doubt put into the creation of this novel is something else.

I think I'm too overwhelmed to be coherent, but this was an absolute feat of writing.

The talent that exists in the mind, body and spirit of Honorée Fannone Jeffers was definitely passed down from the ancestors. Those Toni Morrison comparisons are accurate and this is definitely the best fiction that I've read in 2021.

heidilreads's review against another edition

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5.0

Quite the saga, but so good.

ronbob's review against another edition

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emotional reflective

4.5

whatcourtneyreads's review against another edition

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4.0

Love Songs tells the story of one American family through generations along their matrilineal line from slavery right up to present day, following Ailey Garfield, her mother Belle and sister Lydia, descendants of enslaved Georgians and tenant farmers. It is a tale of trauma, cruelty and oppression, but also resistance, strength, and identity.

I read this book very slowly over several weeks, and like most enormous books, I found my interest waxed and waned depending on what was happening in the story. I definitely had a slumpy bit in the middle, and wasn’t as invested in Lydia’s chapters which I felt weren’t as strongly-written, but the slump was bookended by some fantastic writing which had me super engaged.

The character development and creation of the family tree were superb and I really appreciated how everything linked back together throughout this multigenerational epic. The stories of these strong and resilient Black and Indigenous women were heartbreaking and at times tragic, but also inspiring and hopeful.

I didn’t absolutely love this to death as other people have, and I’m a firm believer that no book actually needs to be 800 pages long, but overall I really enjoyed it and recommend if you’re so inclined to pick up this chonker of a novel. It really was something.