Conjure Women Summary
Afia Atakora

Conjure Women Overview

Afia Atakora’s Conjure Women (2020) is a historical novel set on a Southern plantation in the years leading up to, including, and following the American Civil War. Mostly written in the third person, it tells the story of Rue, a young healer and midwife, presenting a disjointed picture of her life before and after emancipation. Dealing skeptically with such themes as faith, freedom and rebirth, the novel follows Rue and the plantation’s other inhabitants as they contend with violence, disease, secrets, and superstition, while trying to protect the people they love.