The Conjure Woman

<p><I>The Conjure Woman</I> (1899) is a collection of stories by African American author lawyer and political activist Charles Chesnutt. The Goophered Grapevine the collection's opening story was originally published in <I>The Atlantic</I> in 1887 making Chesnutt the first African American to have a story published in the magazine. <I>The Conjure Woman</I> is now considered a masterpiece of African American fiction for its use of folklore and exploration of racist stereotypes of Black Americans especially those living in the South.<p>In The Goophered Grapevine an old ex-slave named Julius McAdoo-a coachman hired by a white Northerner named John-warns his employer about the land he has decided to purchase. He tells him the story of the vineyard's previous owner who hired a woman named Aunt Peggy to put a curse on his famous scuppernong grapes in order to stop his slaves from eating them. Each story in <I>The Conjure Woman</I> follows a similar formula beginning with a narrative situation involving John and his wife Annie before leading to a story from Uncle Julius. Po' Sandy one of Chesnutt's most acclaimed tales-and a loose adaptation of Ovid's <I>Metamorphoses</I>-opens with John deciding to build a new kitchen for his wife. Uncle Julius drives him to the saw mill where while watching the saw cut through a log he is reminded of the story of Sandy a local man who was turned into a tree by a conjurer in order to escape slavery. <I>The Conjure Woman</I> is a powerful collection of folk takes and stories exploring themes of race identity and class in the nineteenth century South.<p>Since our inception in 2020 Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover all while maintaining the integrity of the original book. <p>With thousands of titles in our collection we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.</p>