Palmares

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18.50

AN EPIC TALE OF LOVE AND LIBERATION, SET IN SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY COLONIAL BRAZIL

From plantation to plantation, Almeyda, a young slave girl, hears whispers, rumours of Palmares, a hidden settlement where fugitive slaves live free. But can this promised land exist? And what price is paid for ‘freedom’?

In Palmares, Gayl Jones brings to life a world full of unforgettable characters, reimagining extraordinary historical events and combining them with mythology and magic. The result is a sweeping saga spanning a quarter of a century. Of Gayl Jones, the New Yorker noted, ‘[Her] great achievement is to reckon with both history and interiority, and to collapse the boundary between them.’ Like nothing else before it, Palmares embodies this gift.

Palmares hails the return of a major voice in American literature – ‘the best American novelist whose name you may not know’ (Atlantic). Gayl Jones was first discovered and edited by Toni Morrison, and her talent was praised by writers including Maya Angelou, James Baldwin and John Updike. After a handful of acclaimed novels, she withdrew from the publishing world. Now Jones returns with her first new novel in over twenty years.

ISBN: 9780349015255

Out of stock

Almeyda, born on a Brazilian slave plantation, is seven when Father Tollinaire teaches her to read – though only the books that he allows, and only in the pronunciation he dictates. Like her mother, she becomes a house servant, spared the labour of the fields. But when the master offers the young virgin to his friends, her mother rebels – resulting in mother and daughter being separated and sold on. From plantation to plantation, Almeyda hears whispers, rumours of Palmares, a community of escaped slaves. It is said to have its own spy network, making raids on plantations, setting the slaves free. But can this promised land be real? And what price is paid for ‘freedom’?

Additional information

Weight0.68 kg
Dimensions23.2 × 15.4 × 4 cm
Author

Publisher

Imprint

Cover

Paperback

Pages

512

Language

English

Edition

Export ed

Dewey

813.6 (edition:23)

Readership

General – Trade / Code: K

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