THE UNICORN WOMAN

This extraordinary new novel from Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award finalist Gayl Jones follows the witty but perplexing army veteran Buddy Ray Guy as he embodies the fate of Black soldiers who return not to glory but to their Jim Crow communities.A cook and tractor repairman Buddy was known as Budweiser to his army pals because he's a wise guy. But underneath that surface he is a true self-educated intellectual and a classic seeker: looking for religion looking for meaning looking for love.His odyssey takes him not only from his hometown of Lexington Kentucky to Memphis Tennessee but back into his own memories as he recalls his love affairs in post-war France and his encounters with a dazzling array of almost mythical characters: circus barkers topiary trimmers landladies who provide shelter and plenty of advice for their all-Black clientele proto feminists bigots and - most unforgettably - the Unicorn Woman herself.With her inimitable eye for beauty tragedy and humour Jones offers a rich intriguing exploration of the Black imagination in a time and place of frustration disappointment and spiritual hope.