Daughters of the Dust [Hardcover]

Julie Dash (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1997

Julie Dash's celebrated film, Daughters of the Dust, became an instant classic, claiming honors at the Sundance Film Festival and winning a devoted audience who responded to its lyrical evocation of a family of complex, independent African-American women. Now Dash puts her vision to the page, penning a rich and magical new novel that reacquaints readers with the marvelous film characters.

Editorial Reviews

From Kirkus Reviews

African-American filmmaker Dash turns her award-winning movie of the same title celebrating the Gullah people of South Carolina into a first novel that's often fascinating but rarely gripping. Unlike most fiction derived from or aiming for the screen, Dash's story is slow-moving and rich in description. In moderation, such qualities are productive, but there's overmuch of a good thing here. Though the lengthy monologues imitate tales told in the legendary fashion of griots, West African storytellers, they too often obstruct rather than advance the narrative. And characters seem more vehicles for cultural commentary than people of flesh and blood. Set in the 1920s, when the old rituals and traditions of African life are dying as the young move away to seek easier lives, the people and the place are described by Amelia, a graduate student raised in Harlem. A descendant of Nan, a former slave and the matriarch of the Peazant clan, who still live on Dawtah Island, she's come to stay with her kin while she collects data for an anthropological thesis she's writing on the Gullahs. And while she does this, she learns family secrets (like why her harsh grandmother Haagar ran away from her abusive father); meets colorful characters and kin (like her Aunt Iona, who defied her mother to marry Julien, a Native American who lives deep within the local swamp); notes how African beliefs and customs are still observed; hears the legend of Ibo Landing, the point from which Ibo slaves started walking back to Africa across the water; and becomes close to her cousin Elizabeth, a healer and teacher. Enough material in hand, Amelia goes back to New York but soon returns to care for her ailing mother. It seems likely she'll stay for good. More docu-fiction than the real thing, but, still, a loving tribute to a distinctive people, exotic place, and now-vanished way of life. -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Review

...while the film focuses on the Peazant family at the point of their migration from an isolated island community of formerly enslaved Africans, the novel carries the story to the next generation--to the 1920s and Amelia Varnes, a student of anthropology who returns from New York to observe Gullah society for an ethnographic study and, in the process, rediscovers her matrilineal heritage. Inspired by Zora Neale Hurston, Dash elegantly combines sultry descriptions with evocations of oral tradition, cultural theory with a sincere reverence for Gullah esthetics and experience. -- The New York Times Book Review, Casey King

An elaboration on--as well as a sequel to--the film's captivating story of a multigenerational African- American family, the book explores the rich but little-known Gullah culture of the South Carolina Sea Islands.... A sprinkling of home remedies--"Faith" balm, Love Powder Potion, and Home Sweetener--adds flavor to an already heady tale of family and heritage. -- Entertainment Weekly

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Dutton Adult (October 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0525941096
• ISBN-13: 978-0525941095
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #904,035 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This was a mesmerizing book., April 25, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Daughters of the Dust: A Novel (Paperback)

This book was one that I enjoyed very much and read quickly. I couldn't put it down! I originally purchased this book because my family and I visited St. Helena Island, a Sea Island with much Gullah tradition, last year and loved it. I thought this book would be a way to learn more about the culture of the Sea Islands and get a good story out of it at the same time. It turned out to be so much more than that. Julie Dash does a masterful job of weaving Amelia's story into those of her mother and grandmother who have left the Island and moved to New York City to escape the "backwards" island culture. Amelia comes to love and appreciate her family and the rich heritage of her ancestors. This book was enriching both from a literary and cultural standpoint. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good "coming of age" novel.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Is there a daughters of the dust part 2, February 28, 2000

By 

tamara calendar - See all my reviews

This review is from: Daughters of the Dust (Hardcover)

This was such a well written book. The way Julia Dash developed the characters and described the scenery of the Gullah Islands caused me to want to visit South Carolina myself. I recommend this book to anyone.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars MOVING, December 3, 2002

By 

busylady (Riverdale, IL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Daughters of the Dust: A Novel (Paperback)

Daughters of the Dust is a very moving, mystical journey full of haunting imagery and simple pleasures. It is the story of Amelia, an anthropology student, who has to decided to study the people of Dawtah Island as her thesis. Dawtah Island has been a mystery to her for as long as she can remember. Her mother and grandmother were born on the island. Her grandmother seems to despise everything about the island especially the people and their ignorant and backwards customs. In direct contrast her mother's fondest memories are of her life on the island, she remembers being truly happy there. Amelia has only visited the island once and was in awe of the simplicity of life there.

It is decided that Amelia will live with Eula and Eli, her aunt and uncle, while she studies the culture and customs of the island. Initially she finds the residents of the island reluctant to talk to her. They consider her an outsider and fear she will not understand them. As the islanders become more familiar with Ameila they begin to open up and share their stories with her. Through their stories she realizes their culture is rich in customs; they live in harmony with the animals and elements. They live a simple life but they control their own destiny and revel in life's simple pleasures. Their stories also tell of the joys of love and heartaches of lost or unrequited loves.

Reserve a couple weeks to read this one, it's a "ponderers" delight.