Ours

Description

Ours
by Phillip B. Williams

ISBN: 9780593654828
Hardcover, new

Brief Description:
Chosen as a Most Anticipated Book of 2024 by Oprah’s Book Club, Elle,
Reader’s Digest, The Rumpus, Kirkus Reviews, The Millions, Lit Hub, and
more “An inventive ode to self-determination and also a surrealistic vision
of Black life as forged within the crucible of American history . . .
[written in] lush, ornamental prose.” —The New Yorker “Fans of The
Underground Railroad, The Water Dancer, and Let Us Descend will devour this
lyrical and surreal saga.” —Oprah Daily From a writer of singular voice and
vision, a mesmerizing epic that reimagines the past to explore the true
nature of freedom In this ingenious, sweeping novel, Phillip B. Williams
introduces us to an enigmatic woman named Saint, a fearsome conjurer who,
in the 1830s, annihilates plantations all over Arkansas to rescue the
people enslaved there. She brings those she has freed to a haven of her own
creation: a town just north of St. Louis, magically concealed from
outsiders, named Ours. It is in this miraculous place that Saint’s grand
experiment—a truly secluded community where her people may flourish—takes
root. But although Saint does her best to protect the inhabitants of Ours,
over time, her conjuring and memories begin to betray her, leaving the town
vulnerable to intrusions by newcomers with powers of their own. As the
cracks in Saint’s creation are exposed, some begin to wonder whether the
community’s safety might be yet another form of bondage. Set over the
course of four decades and steeped in a rich tradition of American
literature informed by Black surrealism, mythology, and spirituality, Ours
is a stunning exploration of the possibilities and limitations of love and
freedom by a writer of capacious vision and talent.