@ablackmanreading
Jerid P. Woods, Ph.D.To: Community From: My Heart Song: Folded Thoughts: on literature! Man I almost wrote ya’ll one of them 90s high school love letters. Thank you all for showing up for me and Lindsey Stewart for her book, The Conjuring of America, last week. I got that other book I told ya’ll about right here in store! In this ingenious, sweeping novel, Phillip B. Williams introduces us to an enigmatic woman named Saint, a fearsome conjurer who, in the 1830s, annihilates plantations all over Arkansas to rescue the people enslaved there. She brings those she has freed to a haven of her own creation: a town just north of St. Louis, magically concealed from outsiders, named Ours. It is in this miraculous place that Saint’s grand experiment—a truly secluded community where her people may flourish—takes root. But although Saint does her best to protect the inhabitants of Ours, over time, her conjuring and memories begin to betray her, leaving the town vulnerable to intrusions by newcomers with powers of their own. As the cracks in Saint’s creation are exposed, some begin to wonder whether the community’s safety might be yet another form of bondage. Set over the course of four decades and steeped in a rich tradition of American literature informed by Black surrealism, mythology, and spirituality, Ours is a stunning exploration of the possibilities and limitations of love and freedom by a writer of capacious vision and talent. Purchase in store or via BaldwinAndCoBooks.com ‼️ More Community. Always + all ways. Love 🫶🏾💌✊🏾 #BaldwinAndCo #booktok #NOLA #voodoo #conjure
On the profile · Mar 4, 2026