Conjure Women

Conjure Women moves between slavery and freedom in a small Southern community. Miss May Belle is a respected healing woman whose remedies and curses hold sway over the plantation; her daughter Rue is reluctant to inherit the role of midwife and conjurer. Across the line of color and ownership is Varina, the plantation owner's daughter, whose childhood bond with Rue carries secrets that outlast the war. After emancipation, Rue practices her healing in a town of freed people, but when a strange child is born and a fever spreads, fear and superstition turn against her. The novel uncovers, layer by layer, what happened on the burned-out plantation and what Rue has hidden to protect herself and her community.