National Network for Equitable Library Service

Named a Best Book of the Year by The New Yorker, People, Los Angeles Times, NPR, and more. “An inventive ode to self-determination and also a surrealistic vision of Black life as forged within the crucible of American history... [written in] lush, ornamental prose.”—The New Yorker. “Fans of The Underground Railroad, The Water Dancer, and Let Us Descend will devour this lyrical and surreal saga.”—Oprah Daily. From a writer of singular voice and vision, a mesmerizing epic that reimagines the past to explore the true nature of freedom. In this ingenious, sweeping novel, Phillip B. Williams introduces us to an enigmatic woman named Saint, a fearsome conjurer who, in the 1830s, annihilates plantations all over Arkansas to rescue the people enslaved there. She brings those she has freed to a haven of her own creation: a town just north of St. Louis, magically concealed from outsiders, named Ours. It is in this miraculous place that Saint’s grand experiment—a truly secluded community where her people may flourish—takes root. But although Saint does her best to protect the inhabitants of Ours, over time, her conjuring and memories begin to betray her, leaving the town vulnerable to intrusions by newcomers with powers of their own. As the cracks in Saint’s creation are exposed, some begin to wonder whether the community’s safety might be yet another form of bondage. Set over the course of four decades and steeped in a rich tradition of American literature informed by Black surrealism, mythology, and spirituality, Ours is a stunning exploration of the possibilities and limitations of love and freedom by a writer of capacious vision and talent.