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Book Cover for: Daughters of the Dust, Julie Dash

Daughters of the Dust

Julie Dash

Julie Dash's acclaimed film, "Daughters of the Dust," was a cause for celebration, a lyrical portrait of a family of complex, independent African-American women. Now she returns to the rich Gullah culture of the Sea Islands in a remarkable new novel that reacquaints us with her fascinating characters, expanding their story in deeper and even more magically compelling ways. From Harlem at the height of the celebrated literary Renaissance to the isolated islands off the Carolina coast, "Daughters of the Dust" chronicles the lives of the Peazants, a large, proud extended family. Amelia Varnes leaves New York to return to her mother's home and trace her family's history. Through her evolving friendship with her cousin Elizabeth, Amelia enters the lives of the Peazants, tracing their origins to the early Africans brought to the islands more than a hundred years before. As she listens to the colorful stories, the "lies" they tell, their history comes alive in the poetry of their language and in the music of their voices. Past and present intertwine in their stories of Africa, of slavery and emancipation, of turbulent passions and the joys of family life, and of a people who shaped their destiny with their own strong hands. Amelia's pursuit of knowledge becomes a journey of self-illumination: In learning to treasure her family's traditions, she ultimately reclaims her heritage.

Book Details

  • Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
  • Publish Date: Feb 1st, 1999
  • Pages: 320
  • Language: English
  • Edition: undefined - undefined
  • Dimensions: 7.90in - 5.00in - 0.90in - 0.70lb
  • EAN: 9780452276079
  • Recommended age: 18-UP
  • Categories: Historical - GeneralAfrican American & Black - HistoricalCultural Heritage

About the Author

Thirty years ago, filmmaker Julie Dash became the first African American woman to have a wide theatrical release of a feature film with her Sundance award-winning Daughters of the Dust. The world of the film was the basis for Dash's eponymous debut novel. Her extensive résumé as a film/TV writer and director includes the award-winning drama series Queen Sugar (season 2), created and produced by Ava DuVernay and Oprah Winfrey for OWN Television, and the NAACP Image Award-winning The Rosa Parks Story, which was also nominated for Emmy and DGA awards. Today she has several documentary projects in the works and is a Distinguished Professor of Art and Visual Culture at Spelman College.

More books by Julie Dash

Book Cover for: Daughters of the Dust: The Making of an African American Woman's Film, Julie Dash

Praise for this book

Praise for the novel:

"A compelling portrait...told through the lyrical stories of its strong and complicated women."--Chicago Tribune

"In its beautiful storytelling and richly cultural sense of place and time, Daughters of the Dust the novel meets the high standards of Daughters of the Dust the film...giving us the stuff we've clamored for since the first hypnotic images flickered across movie screens--more, more, more."--Atlanta Journal-Constitution

"Brings to mind Zora Neale Hurston and Toni Morrison...unique voices singing the strength of African American heroines."--The Oregonian

"Rich in the language and traditions of the Gullahs...a testimony to the strength of all women bonded through kinship and friendship."--Richmond Times-Dispatch

"Elegantly combines sultry descriptions with evocations of oral tradition, cultural theory with a sincere reverence for Gullah esthetics and experience."--The New York Times Book Review

"Comes alive in the anecdotes told in the dialect of the many marvelously varied characters and in its descriptions of the overwhelming beauty of the Geechee language and the lushness of the land."--Washington Post Book World

"A portable feast, well spiced with colorful, delicious condiments from Africa and the Black South...Evokes humor and tragedy with an equally clear eye...a riveting family saga by a writer not afraid to use her imagination."--Norfolk Virginian-Pilot

"A touching story about self-preservation, a family's struggle to keep its culture intact, and a young woman's personal struggle to understand how her family's past has shaped her life and the lives of her mother and grandmother...about holding on, letting go, and going home."--Florida Times-Union

"With tremendous detail and historical information, Dash creates a world full of ritual and tradition of which the reader becomes an intimate part."--Emerge

"A heady tale of family and heritage."--Entertainment Weekly

"Daughters of the Dust is an epic tale steeped in the beauty of an Africa-infused American island and its divine women."--Vibe

"This heartwarming novel based on elemental human values shows Dash to be as fine a storyteller as she is a filmmaker."--Booklist

"A fascinating novel."--Chattanooga Times

"Dazzles with the complex beauty of island culture...lyrical and layered."--Nashville Tennessean

"A lush and lyrical story...exploring a background rich in hardship, strength, passion, and joy."--Louisville Courier-Journal

"In her new novel, Dash reacquaints us with her marvelous characters and extends their tale in greater and even more compelling ways."--Macon Courier