Description

From the two-time Emmy Award-winning producer and host of the Black and Published podcast comes a sweeping multi-generational epic following seven generations of Dupree women as they navigate love, loss, and the unyielding ties of family in the tradition of Homegoing and The Love Songs of W.E.B. DuBois.

‘[A]s immersive as it is unforgettable’ LIZZIE DAMILOLA BLACKBURN, Yinka Where is Your Huzband

‘Tender, fierce, and unforgettable’ JACQUELINE CROOKS, Fire Rush

‘An unsentimental exploration of African American family life and a celebration of female resilience and love’ LISA SMITH, Jamaica Road

‘Transcendent’ ELIZABETH GILBERT, City of Girls

Seven generations of women . . . A shared legacy passed down from mother to daughter . . . And the secrets kept hidden between them

Fourteen-year-old Tati is determined to uncover the identity of her father. But her mother, Nadia, keeps her secrets close, while her grandmother, Gladys, remains silent about the family’s past.

As Tati digs deeper, she uncovers the truth of her lineage, still whispered at kitchen tables and murmured in basements, where the ritual of braiding or pressing hair takes place every Saturday night.

From Jubi in 1917, whose attempt to pass for white ends when she gives birth to Ruby; to Ruby’s fiery lust for Sampson in 1934 that leads to a baby of her own; to the night in 1980 that changed Nadia’s future for ever, the Dupree women confront a legacy of pain, resilience and survival that began with an enslaved ancestor who risked everything for freedom.

‘Big themes of inherited trauma and resilience with control are grounded in the kind of storytelling you sink into’ The i

‘…it rewards patient reading; as the stories untangle themselves the characters become distinct and secrets emerge’ The Times, Historical Fiction round-up

‘The Seven Daughters of Dupree weaves together multiple stories showing extraordinary generational resilience’ Platinum

Publisher Review

Praise for The Seven Daughters of Dupree: '[A] novel of unflinching honesty and explosive secrets - the prose captures not only the heartbreak of oppression, but also the breathtaking moral beauty of resilience, honesty, and the soul's endurance' Elizabeth Gilbert, New York Times bestselling author of CITY OF GIRLS 'Oh, how I have been waiting for this novel . . . waiting for such a gathering of women, family, resilience, and love! What an astonishing gift from Nikesha Elise Williams, this writer who has come into her glorious own - and what generosity in sharing this gift with us all' Honoree Fanonne Jeffers, THE LOVE SONGS OF W.E.B. Du Bois '[A] remarkable, ambitious debut and an outstanding portrait of generations of women. As intimate as it is expansive, Nikesha Elise Williams's novel is tender, vividly written, and unforgettable' Jami Attenberg, New York Times bestselling author of THE MIDDLESTEINS 'Through Nikesha Elise Williams' skillful telling, The Seven Daughters of Dupree grows as intricate as the braids that hold her characters' deepest secrets and dreams. Powerful forces intermingle - legacy and loss, joy and pain, pride and shame . . . [this] epic, intergenerational story still linger[s] in my mind' Dawnie Walton, author of THE FINAL REVIVAL OF OPAL & NEV 'Told across several timelines from the late 1800s through to the twenty-first century, The Seven Daughters of Dupree by Nikesha Elise Williams is an expansive, immersive and deeply affecting novel. Williams's prose shifts deftly between time periods weaving the lives of Emma, Jubi, Ruby, Gladys, Nadia and Tati into an epic drama and an intimate portrait of the relationship between mothers and their daughters. The Seven Daughters of Dupree is an unsentimental exploration of African American family life and a celebration of female resilience and love. An extraordinary debut from a very talented writer' LISA SMITH, Jamaica Road 'These women's stories are tender, fierce, and unforgettable. I was moved by the way the novel honours resilience and the quiet strength that runs through generations of women' JACQUELINE CROOKS, Fire Rush