It is heavy, in every sense, and its very existence rather suggests that, as a debut novelist, Honorée Fanonne Jeffers is either ostentatiously gifted, dazzlingly ambitious – or quite possibly both.
Dubois, by a 54-year-old US poet it’s probably safe to say few people in the UK have heard of, clocks in at almost 800 pages. Even avid readers may balk before they pick up a doorstop, those epics – invariably American – whose multiple narratives spool out and dare to test the attention span in a world already held hostage by diversion. Her interview with Jeffers will air on September 24 on Apple TV+.We tend to approach books the size of bricks with a certain caution. Winfrey founded her book club in 1996 and has partnered with Apple since 2019. As a creative writer, it was my secret dream that I would one day write a book that this ‘phenomenal woman’ - to quote from the great poet, Dr Maya Angelou - would read, enjoy, and present to the members of her book club.’ ‘That I could do anything if I just set my hands, mind, and spirit to the task. ‘She made me believe that so many great things were possible for a young, African American woman like me.’ ‘I first encountered the beauty, brilliance, and empathy of Ms Oprah Winfrey from afar, by watching her talk show on my television in the 1980′s,’ Jeffers said in a statement. Jeffers, 54, is already an acclaimed poet whose The Age of Phillis was on the long list in 2020 for a National Book Award.Ī professor of English at the University of Oklahoma, she has championed the stories and achievements of Black women, including Winfrey. Tuesday’s announcement continues Winfrey’s history of selecting debut fiction her previous book club choice was Nathan Harris’ The Sweetness of Water. I look forward to discussing with our community of readers and speaking with Honorée herself to discuss the themes that run throughout this special novel.’ ‘It’s a combination of historical and modern and it consumed me. ‘I was so enraptured by the story of this modern Black family, and how author Honorée Fanonne Jeffers wove the larger fabric of historical trauma through the family’s silence through generations,’ Winfrey said in a statement. The Love Songs of W E B Du Bois, named for the canonical Black scholar and activist, has received advance praise from Angie Thomas, Jacqueline Woodson and Stephanie Powell Watts among others. Published Tuesday, Jeffers’ novel traces centuries of Black history through a family in the American South and its contemporary narrator, young Ailey Paul Garfield. One of the year’s most anticipated debut novels, Honorée Fanonne Jeffers’ “The Love Songs of W E B Du Bois,” is now an Oprah Winfrey book club pick.
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