An early slave narrative, a skilfully woven satire on the stereotypes
of plantation life and the apparently beneficent white owner. Told as a
series of gentle fables, in the style of Aesop.
Featuring a new introduction for this new edition, The Conjure Woman
is probably Chesnutt's most powerful work, a collection of stories set
in post-war North Carolina. The main character is Uncle Julius, a former
slave, who entertains a white couple from the North with fantastic tales
of antebellum plantation life. Julius tells of supernatural phenomenon,
hauntings, transfiguration, and conjuring, which were typical of
Southern African-American folk tales at the time. Uncle Julius tells the
stories in a way that speaks beyond his immediate audience, offering
stories of slavery and inequality that are, to the enlightened reader,
obviously wrong. The tales are fabulistic, like those of Uncle Remus or
Aesop, with carefully crafted allegories on the psychological and social
effects of slavery and racial injustice.
FLAME TREE 451: From mystery to crime, supernatural to horror and
myth, fantasy and science fiction, Flame Tree 451 offers a healthy diet
of werewolves and robots, mad scientists, secret worlds, lost
civilizations and escapist fantasies. Discover a storehouse of tales,
ancient and modern gathered specifically for the reader of the
fantastic. The Foundations titles also explore the roots of modern
fiction and brings together neglected works which deserve a wider
readership as part of a series of classic, essential books.
