{"title":"Jesmyn Ward","description":"\u003cp\u003eJesmyn Ward's works are powerful explorations of resilience and memory, deeply rooted in the American South. Her writing blends \u003cem\u003ehistorical fiction\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003egeneral fiction\u003c\/em\u003e with lyrical prose, illuminating the complexities of family, race, and survival against a backdrop of hardship and loss.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eReaders can expect narratives that are both intimate and universal, often drawing on personal and collective histories. 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His mother, Leonie, is in constant conflict with herself and those around her. She is black, and her children’s father is white. Embattled in ways that reflect the brutal reality of her circumstances, she wants to be a better mother, but can’t put her children above her own needs, especially her drug use.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWhen the children’s father is released from prison, Leonie packs her kids and a friend into her car and drives north to the heart of Mississippi and Parchman Farm, the State Penitentiary. 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Over the course of a single, life-changing summer, as they struggle to find work and contend with the reappearance of their parents – Cille, who left town for a better job, and Sandman, a dangerous addict – the brothers are forced into a series of decisions that will ultimately damn or save them.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eA delicate and closely observed portrait of fraternal love and strife and the bonds that can sustain and torment us, \u003cem\u003eWhere the Line Bleeds\u003c\/em\u003e marks the beginning of Jesmyn Ward’s extraordinary career in fiction.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Allen \u0026 Unwin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46847173820652,"sku":"9781408899823","price":21.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/17108923482689.jpg?v=1758934237"},{"product_id":"let-us-descend-by-jesmyn-ward-9781526666765","title":"Let Us Descend","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003e AN OPRAH'S BOOK CLUB PICK \u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e‘A spectacular achievement’ \u003c\/strong\u003eANTHONY DOERR\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003e‘Extravagantly beautiful’ \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003eDAILY MAIL\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003e‘One of the greatest writers of all time’ \u003c\/strong\u003eJACQUELINE WOODSON\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003e‘Extraordinary’ \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003eGUARDIAN\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003e‘The best book I’ve read in years’ \u003c\/strong\u003eLOUISE KENNEDY\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e-----------------------\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe first weapon I ever held was my mother's hand.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOn a slave plantation in the Carolinas, Annis has survived in the light of her mother’s resilience, comforted by stories of her African warrior grandmother. Everything she knows, she learned from her mother – how to fight, how to be strong, how to grow up in a world shrouded in darkness.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWhen she is sold south by the white enslaver who fathered her, Annis must venture onward through the rich but unforgiving landscapes of the American South alone: from the rice fields of the Carolinas to the slave markets of New Orleans, and into the fearsome heart of a Louisiana sugar plantation. Searching for relief in memories of her mother, she opens herself to a world beyond her own, teeming with spirits of earth, water, history and myth.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eA reimagining of American slavery as beautifully rendered as it is heart-wrenching, \u003cem\u003eLet Us Descend\u003c\/em\u003e offers a magnificent portrait of the strength of the human spirit and its ability to emerge from darkness into light. 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