A Musical Exploration of Love and Social Justice: W.E.B. Du Bois' Love Songs Novel

Taryn Diaz: My favorite book of all time besides Cloud Cuckoo Land. A beautiful book & the only book to ever make me cry. The author wrote this with so much love & appreciation for African Americans-especially women. I am not African American, but it was such a beautiful & insightful look into the African American plight.

United States on Nov 24, 2023

Kindle Customer: This is a tracing of the ancestry of the main character, jumping between her and her various foremothers and forefathers and also her immediate family. It illustrates the brutality with which black women have been treated throughout this country' s history. It shows love overcoming race, ethnicity and adversity. The women in this novel are examples of great strength. The growth and maturation of the characters as the story unwinds makes you not want to put this book down.

United States on Nov 07, 2023

Jazisunray: Brilliant depiction of lives that cross generations. Absolutely mesmerizing. "For the original transgression of this land was not slavery. It was greed, and it could not be contained." Very lengthy but well worth the time spent. The historical facts were so intriguing I recommend everyone add it to their TBR list.

United States on Nov 01, 2023

Kindle Customer: Brilliantly written. The author is a published poet and it shows in this work. 800+ pages of deliciously written fiction through several generations. I don't agree with any of the negative reviews. The story is constructed so that everything makes sense and is in context...no gratuitous rape scenes or violence. These things happened historically and still do in families. I loved the strong women and their fully fleshed out personalities and the dialogue is priceless. A very beautiful book and well worth the time to read and enjoy it!

United States on Oct 31, 2023

F Todd: I know this book will stay with me. Somehow the author managed to weave the story of centuries (mostly women's) American history into this incredible novel. It was long but utterly worth it.

United Kingdom on Aug 07, 2023

PCP: Good book. Sometimes a bit difficult to follow the transitions.

Canada on Feb 10, 2023

Kee Lady: I finished The Love Songs of W.E.B du Bois two weeks ago and I’m still thinking about it. It is by far one of the best books I’ve ever read. This multi-generational saga pulled me in from the start and I was totally engrossed throughout. Epic in scope, it covers everything from slavery, racism, gender, sexuality, violence, abuse, familial relationships and love. Another reviewer describes it as an instant classic, and I couldn’t agree more.

United Kingdom on Feb 06, 2023

Val Barlow: Firstly, this book informed my historical understanding of how white settlers, indigenous American Indians, African slavery all fitted together as part of American history. From this, themes of colonialism, subjection , cruelty, destruction, racial cleansing and so many more are considered through the lens of modern 20th century impact. It ends with the importance of questions, as to me, the way forward is still so bound in a past that to many is still so blinkered and subjective. It gives me hope because these wrongs are beginning to be examined, within the universal context of love and family.

United Kingdom on Jul 27, 2022

a.khare: Books with a hefty page count have a very daunting task. They have to be brilliant and keep your undivided attention or be mediocre. Jeffers manages to keep you engaged page after page with her beautifully written characters. This is historical fiction at its best. The impact of the brutal exploitation of the native Indians and the black people on the mindsets of the current generation is well documented. It is not a easy task to write a synopsis of this book as there are several characters. At times it got confusing for me and I had to keep going to and fro between the pages. Though the cast of characters is giving before the first chapter I would suggest making your own notes or chart them out according to your sensibilities.
Do not be daunted by its size, take a deep breath and dive in!

India on Sep 23, 2021

O. Merce Brown: *****
I have just begun to read this book today--when it arrived--and wanted to address the quality of the book and the deckle edge. Many people are "reviewing" this wonderful novel by rating it low and complaining about "the poor quality" of the book and the paper, stating that they've never seen anything like it before.

The book is simply produced with a "deckle edge", which is a rough, untidy, rugged edge. Many books, both hardback and paperback, of today and of years ago, are made with this type of page edge on the right and left edges of the book. I am guessing that the critics have not seen this before. It is not the prettiest deckle, as I think it is a little tiny bit rough, but if so many people hadn't complained, I'd never have noticed it. It looks like it was intended to be that way. I personally love a deckle edge like this.

The paper quality is wonderful and doesn't feather or bleed through when highlighted or underlined in regular ballpoint pen.

I do think that it is as nice as any other hardback I've purchased, and not defective or inferior!

I have only begun to read this, and will edit this "review" with an actual review of the novel...

United States on Aug 28, 2021