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Sherley A. Williams' highly acclaimed historical novel details two women's fierce strength of will and an unlikely bond despite racial barriers in the pre-civil war south "Having this treasure of a book available again for new and more readers is not only necessary, it is imperative."--Toni Morrison In 1829, in Kentucky, a pregnant black woman helped lead an uprising of a group of slaves headed to the market for sale. She was sentenced to death, but her hanging was delayed until after the birth of her baby. In North Carolina in 1830, a white woman living on an isolated farm was reported to have given sanctuary to runaway slaves. In Dessa Rose, Sherley A. Williams asks the question: "What if these two women met?" From there the story unfolds: two strong women, one black, one white, form a forbidden and ambivalent alliance; a bold scheme is hatched to win freedom; trust is slowly extended and cautiously accepted as the two women unite and discover greater strength together than alone. United by fate but divided by prejudice, these two women are locked in a thrilling battle for freedom, sisterhood, friendship, and love. … (more)
Dessa Rose opens with a dream, told in poetic language that draws the reader immediately and deeply into Dessa's world, the world of an American slave in 1847. Williams' genius is that she makes the reader experience that world in a way that few other novelists have. The story ends rather abruptly, with an equally abrupt change in point of view at the end, but in the total context of an incredibly beautiful, moving work, it hardly matters. ( )
One of the most artful contemporary narratives about slavery I've come across, this novel is all but impossible to put down once begun. Williams' carefully orchestrated descriptions and emphasis on physical realities makes each page both visual and powerful. The characters are engaging and believable, and the narrative itself is perfectly paced. Even as someone who's read many slave narratives and become very familiar with African American lit. as a whole, I found this full work a refreshing and wrenching page turner that holds up to literary standards and scrutiny. I'd absolutely recommend it to any readers---Williams' writing makes the story come alive, and her descriptions and dialect are perfect. ( )
Kaine, his voice high and clear as running water over a settled stream bed, swooping to her, through her. . . He walked the lane between the indifferently rowed cabins like he owned them, striding from shade into half-light as if he could halt the setting sun.
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Oh, we have paid for our children's place in the world again, and again . . .
Sherley A. Williams' highly acclaimed historical novel details two women's fierce strength of will and an unlikely bond despite racial barriers in the pre-civil war south "Having this treasure of a book available again for new and more readers is not only necessary, it is imperative."--Toni Morrison In 1829, in Kentucky, a pregnant black woman helped lead an uprising of a group of slaves headed to the market for sale. She was sentenced to death, but her hanging was delayed until after the birth of her baby. In North Carolina in 1830, a white woman living on an isolated farm was reported to have given sanctuary to runaway slaves. In Dessa Rose, Sherley A. Williams asks the question: "What if these two women met?" From there the story unfolds: two strong women, one black, one white, form a forbidden and ambivalent alliance; a bold scheme is hatched to win freedom; trust is slowly extended and cautiously accepted as the two women unite and discover greater strength together than alone. United by fate but divided by prejudice, these two women are locked in a thrilling battle for freedom, sisterhood, friendship, and love.
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VIRAGO EDITION: In the long hot summer of 1847, the pregnant slave Dessa Rose sits in a white man's cellar, waiting for her child to be born so that she can be hanged. A world away, in the unfinished mansion of her run-down plantation, the ex-debutante Miss Rufel, abandoned by her husband and family, also waits - a prisoner of a different kind. It is to Miss Rufel's farm that Dessa is brought by the runaways who rescue her - and it is there that, out of hatred and suspicion, an unforgettable friendship is forged. Based on two real-life historical incidents, Dessa Rose is a powerful, ground-breaking novel of the relationship between a black woman and a white woman across the racial divide.
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