Dessa Rose

Sherley Anne Williams

HarperCollins, 1986

Agent: Sandra Dijkstra

“Having this treasure of a book available again for new and more readers is not only necessary, it is imperative.” —Toni Morrison

Expanding the canon of African American literature, alongside Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, Alice Walker’s The Color Purple, and Toni Morrison’s Beloved, Sherley Anne Williams’ critically acclaimed and unforgettable Dessa Rose is a novel of two powerfully conceived female protagonists forging a vital friendship in the face of racial divides in the antebellum South.

Reviews:
“Having this treasure of a book available again for new and more readers is not only necessary, it is imperative.”
Toni Morrison


“A deep, rich, compelling work. . . . I am astonished, moved, and delighted with the language, the thought, the obvious collaboration of the ancestors and the love I read on these pages.”
Alice Walker


“A powerful story. . . . Emotionally affecting and totally unforgettable.”
New York Times


“Some readers may expect Dessa Rose to be a second Color Purple. While that comparison is somewhat superficial, it is not wholly inappropriate. For, like Alice Walker, Sherley Anne Williams has written a novel that is artistically brilliant, emotionally affecting and totally unforgettable.”
New York Times Book Review


“Extraordinary. . . . These two women achieve one of the most intricate and ambivalent relationships in contemporary fiction.”
Los Angeles Times


“Theirs is a moving and timeless story. Unlike anything you have ever read, this remarkable debut novel is destined to become a modern classic. Brilliant and compelling, it celebrates the triumphant power of the human spirit…Dessa Rose is a true folk hero!”
Chicago Tribune


“Absorbing…Deeply true and brilliantly imagined.”
Newsday


“Two women in search of different freedoms…imaginative…impressive…rich and full.”
Washington Post


“Strong, moving and illuminating.”
Publisher’s Weekly


“Dessa Rose immediately moves to the fore as one of the finest, richest, most moving novels we have about slavery. Dessa Rose herself is a fully created character of enormous strength and persistence in her love as well as her anger. It is a good read, a page turner with a compelling story, but beyond that it creates the intricate net of relationships in bondage as few novels have succeeded in doing.”
Marge Piercy, author of Small Changes