GAYL JONES

No novel about any black woman could ever be the same after this' TONI MORRISON'Corregidora is the most brutally honest and painful revelation of what has occurred, and is occurring, in the souls of Black men and women' JAMES BALDWINUpon publication in 1975, Corregidora was hailed as a masterpiece, winning acclaim from writers including James Baldwin, Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison and John Updike. Exploring themes such as race, sexuality and the long repercussions of slavery, this powerful novel paved the way for Beloved and The Colour Purple. Now, this lost classic is published for a new generation of readers.Blues singer Ursa is consumed by her hatred of Corregidora, the nineteenth-century slave master who fathered both her mother and grandmother. Charged with 'making generations' to bear witness to the abuse embodied in the family name, Ursa Corregidora finds herself unable to keep alive this legacy when she is made sterile in a violent fight with her husband. Haunted by the ghosts of a Brazilian plantation, pained by a present of lovelessness and despair, Ursa slowly and firmly strikes her own terms with womanhood.AS HEARD ON THE BACKLISTED PODCAST'A literary giant, and one of my absolute favourite writers' TAYARI JONES, author of AN AMERICAN MARRIAGEAlso new to the VMC list: Eva's Man and The Healing by Gayl Jones. 'An American writer with a powerful sense of vital inheritance, of history in the blood' JOHN UPDIKE'Gayl Jones's first novel, Corregidora (1975), was both shocking and ground-breaking in its probing of the psychological legacy of slavery and sexual ownership through the life of a Kentucky blues singer ... it predated Alice Walker's The Color Purple and Toni Morrison's Beloved, revealing an unfinished emancipation and the power of historical memory to shape lives.It also marked a shift in African-American literature that made women, and relationships between black people, central' MAYA JAGGI, Guardian'Corregidora's survey of trauma and overcoming has become even better and more relevant with the passage of time. It remains an indispensable point of entry into the tradition of African American writing that Gayl Jones reshaped and enriched' PAUL GILROY

An exciting new novel from a major voice in American literature - exploring artists in exile, dangerous relationships and the demands of creativity.

An exciting new novel from a major voice in American literature - exploring artists in exile, dangerous relationships and the demands of creativity.

A raíz de la publicación de "Corregidora", su primera novela, en 1975, Gayl Jones se convirtió en una de las escritoras más destacadas de la literatura afroamericana. La novela recibió los elogios de autores tan destacados como James Baldwin, Maya Angelou, John Updike o Toni Morrison. James Baldwin señalo que "Corregidora" era la revelacion mas cruda, sincera y dolorosa de cuanto ha acontecido y sigue aconteciendo en el alma de los hombres y mujeres negros, mientras que Toni Morrison afirmo que, despues de "Corregidora", ninguna novela cuya protagonista fuera una mujer negra seria ya lo mismo.Ambientada principalmente en el estado de Kentucky, la novela esta protagonizada por Ursa, una cantante de blues que desciende de un esclavista portugues llamado Corregidora. Gracias al testimonio de sus antepasadas, se ha mantenido viva la historia de los abusos y vejaciones que sufrieron su bisabuela y su abuela a manos del negrero en la plantacion, historia que ella a su vez tendra que transmitir a sus hijos llegado el momento. Un dia, debido a que su marido la empuja por unas escaleras durante una discusion porque ella se niega a dejar su trabajo, pierde el hijo que esperaba y le tienen que extirpar el utero. Atormentada por los fantasmas de la plantacion brasileña, cuyos padecimientos no va a poder transmitirle a nadie, Ursa luchara por encontrar la manera de vivir su propia vida.