Finalist, 2023 Kirkus Prize for FictionFrom Jesmyn Ward—the youngest winner of theLibrary of Congress Prize for American Fiction, &MacArthur Fellow—comes a haunting masterpiece, sure to be an instant classic, about an enslaved girl in the years before the Civil War.“‘Let us descend,’ the poet now began, ‘and enter this blind world.’” —Inferno, Dante Alighieri°°°Let Us Descendis a reimagining ofAmerican slavery, as beautifully rendered as it is heart-wrenching. Searching, harrowing, replete with transcendent love, the novel is a journey from the rice fields of theCarolinasto the slave markets ofNew Orleans& into the fearsome heart of aLouisianasugar plantation.Annis, sold south by the white enslaver who fathered her, is the reader’s guide through this hellscape. As she struggles through the miles-long march,Annisturns inward, seeking comfort from memories of her mother & stories of herAfrican warrior grandmother. Throughout, she opens herself to a world beyond this world, one teeming with of earth & water, of myth & history; spirits who nurture & give, & those who manipulate & take. WhileWardleads readers through the descent, this, her fourth novel, is ultimately a story ofrebirth&reclamation.From one of the most singularly brilliant & beloved writers of her generation, this miracle of a novel inscribesBlack Americangrief & joy into the very land—the rich but unforgiving forests, swamps, & rivers of theAmerican South.Let Us DescendisJesmyn Ward’smost magnificent novel yet, a masterwork for the ages.°°°Wardis thehistoric winner—first woman & firstBlack American—of twoNational Book Awards for FictionforSing, Unburied, Sing(2017) &Salvage the Bones(2011). She is also the author of the novelWhere the Line Bleeds& the memoirMen We Reaped, which was a finalist for theNational Book Critics Circle Award& won theChicago Tribune Heartland Prize...