The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois

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What to expect

A TOP TEN NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
AN OPRAH BOOK CLUB PICK
A WASHINGTON POST BEST AUDIOBOOK OF 2021
A GLAMOUR BEST AUDIOBOOK OF 2021
AN AUDIOFILE BEST AUDIOBOOK OF 2021

Immerse yourself in a celebration of Black womanhood and an epic tale of the stories that span generations.

Ailey Pearl Garfield grows up between the City in the north and summers spent in her mother’s small hometown of Chicasetta, Georgia. From an early age, she finds herself in a battle for belonging that’s made all the more difficult by a hurt in her past, as well as the whispers of women—her mother, Belle, her sister, Lydia, and a maternal line reaching back two centuries—that urge Ailey to succeed in their stead.

To come to terms with her identity, Ailey embarks on a journey through her family’s past, uncovering the shocking tales of generations of ancestors—Indigenous, Black, and white—in the deep South. In doing so Ailey must learn to embrace her full heritage, a legacy of oppression and resistance, bondage and independence, cruelty and resilience that is the story—and the song—of America itself.

‘Mesmerising… magnificent’ Independent

‘Astonishing… A great work infused with love and honesty’ Alice Walker, author of The Color Purple

‘Gripping, gorgeous. A sweeping family saga that is also history at its most intimate and vital’ Stef Penney, author of The Tenderness of Wolves

LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION • SHORTLISTED FOR THE CENTER FOR FICTION FIRST NOVEL PRIZE • LONGLISTED FOR THE ASPEN LITERARY PRIZE

20 Highest Rated Books on Goodreads 2025 • New York Times 10 Best Books of the Year • Time 10 Best Books of the Year • Washington Post 10 Best Books of the Year • People 10 Best Books of the Year • Booklist 10 Best First Novels of the Year

Critics Review

‘Prepare to be wholly engrossed… Phenomenal’ Observer

‘Utterly essential’
iNews

‘Intimate, considered, beautifully written and perceived, ambitious and ultimately satisfying. Outstanding’ Daily Mail

‘Astonishing… I lived in this novel for three weeks. It is long. It is a journey. It is something so remarkable I’m not sure we collectively ever even dreamed it.’ Alice Walker, author of The Color Purple

‘Beautifully, and traumatically, weaves a spell of a story about more than ten generations of an American family―indigenous, African and European… Remarkable’ Afua Hirsch, author of Brit(ish)

‘Breath-taking … A book I urge everyone to read. It is deeply moving and deeply informative. It is magnificent’ Sarah Winman, author of Still Life

‘Exceptional in the way it engages so deeply and emphatically with history’ Guardian

‘Epic and intimate… an extraordinary achievement’ The Spectator

‘A work of profound beauty’ Irish Times

‘Extraordinary … moving and evocative’ TLS

‘The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois is the kind of book that comes around only once a decade … Simply magnificent’ Washington Post

‘Quite simply the best book that I have read in a very, very long time’ New York Times

‘Just as brilliant as it is necessary, just as intimate as it is expansive. An outstanding portrait of an American family and in turn, an outstanding portrait of America’ Angie Thomas, author of The Hate U Give

‘Masterful and stunning … These Love Songs make for a frank, feminist, and unforgettable read’ Deesha Philyaw, author of The Secret Lives of Church Ladies

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