The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois

Incredibly immersive and well-researched with a broad scope and broad appeal. I listened to the (unabridged) audio version and it flew by; I was surprised to see the regular book was over eight hundred pages long!

This is an extremely ambitious debut novel that, for the most part, lands. It follows the life of Ailey Garfield from a preteen to a grown woman studying for her doctorate. We see her family life, school life, love life, her successes, failures, struggles and everything between. Interspersed are long sections from the perspectives of different people from different parts of Ailey's mixed heritage: black, white, indigenous, from the 1700s to Ailey's own childhood. It's an intense generational saga that showcases ripples across the family line. Jeffers is absolutely unapologetic and unwavering in her commitment to making this a black feminist novel (and rightly so!). Triumphs and tragedies past and present can all be found here. Ailey's connection to her maternal line is the showcase, and ultimately provides the catharsis, of this theme.

Due to the length of the novel, it can sometimes feel a bit repetitive. While this repetitiveness is a way in which the generational trauma is highlighted, I do think certain segments could have done with tighter editing.

Nevertheless this is a compelling read, but also one that doesn't pull punches. True horror and heartbreak in spades, but more than enough love too.