Conjure Tales and Stories of the Color Line

by Charles W. Chesnutt

Book Overview

Unlike the popular "Uncle Remus" stories of Joel Chandler Harris, Charles W. Chesnutt's tales probe psychological depths in black people unheard of before in Southern regional writing. They also expose the anguish of mixed-race men and women and the consequences of racial hatred, mob violence, and moral compromise. This important collection contains all the stories in his two published volumes, The Conjure Woman and The Wife of His Youth,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0141185023
• ISBN13: 9780141185026
• Release Date: June 2000
• Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.0" x 7.7"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

A wonderful story and an important work of literature

Charles Chestnutt's A Conjure Woman is a collection of short stories told by a former slave named Julius to a White couple who have recently moved to the South. Written at the turn of the century, Chestnutt was addressing a primarily White audience who were recovering from Reconstruction and were fond of plantation-style literature which looked upon slavery with nostalgia. On the surface, the author seems to be catering to the nostalgic pre-Civil War idea, but in actuality, Julius' stories have a much deeper moral which reveal a harsh and terrible way of life for Blacks of the time. Mixed with elements of magic and conjuring, Julius' seems to be telling fanciful fairy tales, but with a closer look, one realizes that Chestnutt has no fondness or nostalgia for the times of slavery. This is a well-written and thought-provoking book and it is an important novel of America's history.