The heartache from finishing it is still prevalent, but that to me is good writing. If you are a historical fiction or literary fiction fan, I highly recommend this. I gave Conjure Women by Afia Atakora 4.5 stars. Atakora cultivated a story filled with vivid imagery, complex characters, heart breaking facts that enhance the reading experience as if it is a film playing out in front of you. Conjure Women in all it’s glorious fiction feels like the truth we need to feel. This sobering story really peels back layers for a reader. The thought of people who for generations did not have the knowledge of what being free is, can feel so far fetched for us during these times. Rue is finding her and her people are still evolving and understanding what this FREEDOM truly means. Rue is holding a big grudge for her upbringing and the inheritance of skeletons in the closet her mother passed on, but also, she despises her role as healer. We then have Rue, a couple years passed her mother’s passing, and post emancipation.

This kind of non-constrained honesty is hard to read, but these sort of stories whether they are fiction or real life stories need to be witnessed and felt. I meant to say that statement, Rue, being an investment the the Master of the land. Being that Rue was allowed to be born, in order to inherit her mother’s role. You also experience Miss May Bell raising her young daughter Rue, teaching her the ins and outs of the vocation. You see her daily life of grinding herbs, rubbing concoctions, and healing the wounded people of the land.

The day and life of Miss May Bell, the healer for Marse Charles land.

This book is filled with grit, with beautifully yet tragic vivid descriptions of slavery. And the complicated, but yet, never gets old story between mother and her daughter is explicitly factual in this folkolore fiction tale. The alternating views of these complicated women made for a multi layered masterpiece. This beautifully intricate story of a mother and daughter during Pre-Civil War times, during, and after Emancipation is the historical read I always search for. I am so glad I got my hands on Conjure Women by Afia Atakora, I always try to fit Historical fictions or a good Literary Fiction in my “read pile” every year.