https://gateway.bibliocommons.com/v2/libraries/cals/rss/search?query=The%20Conjuring%20of%20America&searchType=smart&view=groupedRSS for NodeWed, 14 Oct 2026 11:12:49 GMThttps://cals.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S100C2155810https://cals.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S100C2155810Fri, 31 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://cals.bibliocommons.com/item/comment/2155810100BKMojos, Mermaids, Medicine, and 400 Years of Black Women's Magicenghttps://secure.syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=9781538769508/MC.GIF&client=cenarkls&type=xw12&oclc=Kirkus Reviews Best Books of 2025 | BookRiot's Best Books of 2025 | NPR's New Books to Read | Ms. Magazine's Most Anticipated Feminist Book
A crucial telling of U.S. history centering the Black women whose magic gave rise to the rich tapestry of American culture, wellness, and spirituality that we see today—from Vicks VapoRub and Aunt Jemima's pancake mix, to the magic of Disney's The Little Mermaid (2023), and the all-American blue jean.
Emerging first on plantations in the American South, enslaved conjure women used their magic to treat illnesses. These women combined their ancestral spiritual beliefs from West Africa with local herbal rituals and therapeutic remedies to create conjure, forging a secret well of health and power hidden to their oppressors and many of the modern-day staples we still enjoy.
In The Conjuring of America, Black feminist philosopher Lindsey Stewart exposes this vital contour of American history. In the face of slavery, Negro Mammies fashioned a legacy of magic that begat herbal experts, fearsome water bearers, and powerful mojos—roles and traditions that for centuries have been passed down to respond to Black struggles in real time. And when Jim Crow was born, Granny Midwives and textile weavers leveled their techniques to protect our civil and reproductive rights, while Candy Ladies fed a generation of freedom crusaders.
Sourcing firsthand accounts the of enslaved, dispatches from the lore of Oshun, and the wisdom of beloved Black women writers, Stewart proves indisputably that conjure informs our lives in ways remarkable and ordinary. Above all, The Conjuring of America is a love letter to the magic Black women used to sow messages of rebellion, freedom, and hope.]]>https://cals.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S980C11349194https://cals.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S980C11349194Fri, 31 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://cals.bibliocommons.com/item/comment/11349194980EAUDIOBOOKMojos, Mermaids, Medicine, and 400 Years of Black Women's Magicenghttps://secure.syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=9781668650103/MC.GIF&client=cenarkls&type=xw12&oclc=https://cals.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S981C14631751https://cals.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S981C14631751Mon, 31 Jan 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://cals.bibliocommons.com/item/comment/14631751981EAUDIOBOOKA Celebration of Ancestor Worship, Herbs and Hoodoo, Ritual and Conjureenghttps://secure.syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=9781666152579/MC.GIF&client=cenarkls&type=xw12&oclc=https://cals.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S981C14002016https://cals.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S981C14002016Mon, 31 Jan 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://cals.bibliocommons.com/item/comment/14002016981EBOOKA Celebration of Ancestor Worship, Herbs and Hoodoo, Ritual and Conjureenghttps://secure.syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=9781612834672/MC.GIF&client=cenarkls&type=xw12&oclc=https://cals.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S100C1933662https://cals.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S100C1933662Thu, 31 Jan 2002 00:00:00 GMThttps://cals.bibliocommons.com/item/comment/1933662100BKA Materia Magica of African-American Conjure and Traditional Formulary, Giving the Spiritual Uses of Natural Herbs, Roots, Minerals, and Zoological Curiosenghttps://secure.syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=9780971961203/MC.GIF&client=cenarkls&type=xw12&oclc=51896780https://cals.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S100C1851257https://cals.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S100C1851257Sat, 31 Jan 2015 00:00:00 GMThttps://cals.bibliocommons.com/item/comment/1851257100GRAPHIC_NOVELStories in Celebration of Ray Bradburyenghttps://secure.syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=9781631402678/MC.GIF&client=cenarkls&type=xw12&oclc=900793800https://cals.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S981C19673875https://cals.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S981C19673875Sun, 31 Jan 2016 00:00:00 GMThttps://cals.bibliocommons.com/item/comment/19673875981VIDEO_ONLINEenghttps://cals.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S100C1377706https://cals.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S100C1377706Wed, 31 Jan 2001 00:00:00 GMThttps://cals.bibliocommons.com/item/comment/1377706100BKBlack Magicians in Americaenghttps://secure.syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=9780802787620/MC.GIF&client=cenarkls&type=xw12&oclc=https://cals.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S100C2018864https://cals.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S100C2018864Fri, 31 Jan 2020 00:00:00 GMThttps://cals.bibliocommons.com/item/comment/2018864100BKA Novelenghttps://secure.syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=9780525511489/MC.GIF&client=cenarkls&type=xw12&oclc=https://cals.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S100C2047886https://cals.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S100C2047886Fri, 31 Jan 2020 00:00:00 GMThttps://cals.bibliocommons.com/item/comment/2047886100BKenghttps://secure.syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=9780819579362/MC.GIF&client=cenarkls&type=xw12&oclc=https://cals.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S100C2119109https://cals.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S100C2119109Tue, 31 Jan 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://cals.bibliocommons.com/item/comment/2119109100BKenghttps://secure.syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=9780062899613/MC.GIF&client=cenarkls&type=xw12&oclc=A mother and daughter with a shared talent for healing—and for the conjuring of curses—are at the heart of this dazzling first novel
 
WINNER OF THE SOCIETY OF AMERICAN HISTORIANS PRIZE • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times • NPR • Parade • Book Riot • PopMatters
“Lush, irresistible . . . It took me into the hearts of women I could otherwise never know. I was transported.”—Amy Bloom, New York Times bestselling author of White Houses and Away
Conjure Women is a sweeping story that brings the world of the South before and after the Civil War vividly to life. Spanning eras and generations, it tells of the lives of three unforgettable women: Miss May Belle, a wise healing woman; her precocious and observant daughter Rue, who is reluctant to follow in her mother’s footsteps as a midwife; and their master’s daughter Varina. The secrets and bonds among these women and their community come to a head at the beginning of a war and at the birth of an accursed child, who sets the townspeople alight with fear and a spreading superstition that threatens their newly won, tenuous freedom.
 
Magnificently written, brilliantly researched, richly imagined, Conjure Women moves back and forth in time to tell the haunting story of Rue, Varina, and May Belle, their passions and friendships, and the lengths they will go to save themselves and those they love.
LONGLISTED FOR THE CENTER FOR FICTION FIRST NOVEL PRIZE
“[A] haunting, promising debut . . . Through complex characters and bewitching prose, Atakora offers a stirring portrait of the power conferred between the enslaved women. This powerful tale of moral ambiguity amid inarguable injustice stands with Esi Edugyan’s Washington Black.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“An engrossing debut . . . Atakora structures a plot with plenty of satisfying twists. Life in the immediate aftermath of slavery is powerfully rendered in this impressive first novel.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
]]>https://cals.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S980C4814833https://cals.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S980C4814833Fri, 31 Jan 2020 00:00:00 GMThttps://cals.bibliocommons.com/item/comment/4814833980EAUDIOBOOKA Novelenghttps://secure.syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=9780593154427/MC.GIF&client=cenarkls&type=xw12&oclc=https://cals.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S100C1721201https://cals.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S100C1721201Mon, 31 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMThttps://cals.bibliocommons.com/item/comment/1721201100BKFour Novels of the 1930senghttps://secure.syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=9781598531015/MC.GIF&client=cenarkls&type=xw12&oclc=701019591https://cals.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S100C1407395https://cals.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S100C1407395Fri, 31 Jan 2003 00:00:00 GMThttps://cals.bibliocommons.com/item/comment/1407395100BKConjure Storiesenghttps://secure.syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=9780446679299/MC.GIF&client=cenarkls&type=xw12&oclc=https://cals.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S100C1396742https://cals.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S100C1396742Thu, 31 Jan 2002 00:00:00 GMThttps://cals.bibliocommons.com/item/comment/1396742100BKR.L. Stine Picks His Favorite Scary Storiesenghttps://secure.syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=9780066238425/MC.GIF&client=cenarkls&type=xw12&oclc=https://cals.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S100C1199111https://cals.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S100C1199111Tue, 31 Jan 1995 00:00:00 GMThttps://cals.bibliocommons.com/item/comment/1199111100BKBlack Mystery, Crime, and Suspense Fictionenghttps://secure.syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=9780385478274/MC.GIF&client=cenarkls&type=xw12&oclc=