Mississippi Coast author Jesmyn Ward’s new book added to Oprah’s renowned book club
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Tulane University professor Jesmyn Ward’s latest book was selected as the the most recent addition to Oprah’s Book Club, just another in a slew of honors bestowed upon Ward and her stunning work over the last decade.
“Let Us Descend” is the 103rd book inducted into Oprah’s Book Club, which since its start in 1996 has been renowned for its ability to launch previously unknown books and authors to bestseller lists nearly overnight.
Ward, however, is anything but unknown.
A Mississippi Coast native and creative writing professor at Tulane, Ward has written three other novels — “Where the Line Bleeds,” “Salvage the Bones,” and “Sing, Unburied, Sing.” Two of those won National Book Awards in 2011 and 2017. Her memoir, “Men We Reaped,” was hailed widely as a brave look at a pressing American issue — the premature deaths of young Black men due to drugs, violence, illness and myriad other social ills.
“Let Us Descend” follows Annis, an enslaved teen who is separated from her mother and sold South, as she travels from Carolina through the New Orleans slave markets and to a harsh Louisiana sugar plantation. There, spiritual forces and Annis’ African ancestry aid in her survival.
A fan of Ward’s writing for years, Oprah called the author “a powerful, vital voice in our culture today” in a recent interview with CBS Mornings.
“I know this novel is going to impact so many of you like it did me,” Oprah said.
International discussions on the first two chapters started Saturday and analyses of the next two chapters continue this weekend. You can participate in Oprah’s Book Club on Goodreads or via X, formerly known as Twitter, by using the hashtag #oprahsbookclub.
