Stigmata: A Novel [Paperback]

Phyllis Alesia Perry (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 14, 1999

A powerful and imaginative debut novel about the legacy of slavery, and the psychological mystery surrounding a troubled young woman.

When Lizzie Du Bose inherits a handmade quilt willed to her by a maternal grandmother she has never met, her life is forever changed. The figures sewn into the quilt tell the stories of Lizzie's grandmother Grace, and Grace's grandmother Ayo, who was abducted from Africa as a girl and sent as a slave to America. As Lizzie learns, the quilt seems to hold the key to a past that haunts her, at first through terrifyngly lifellike dreams, and finally through visions that seem to take Lizzie back in time, fusing her own life with the lives of Grace and Ayo.

One night, Lizzie awakens to find the quilt soaked in blood, and discovers horrible wounds on her wrists and back. Wracked with pain, Lizzie has no memory of having harmed herself, but she believes Ayo's manacle scars have appeared on her own body--as real an inheritence as Grace's quilt. Now Lizzie must decide whether she has begun a descent into madness, or made an extraordinary connection to the past. A compelling and utterly intriguing tale, Stigmata weaves together the stories of three women at once blessed with a powerful vision, and cursed by a shared legacy of slavery, pain, and struggle.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper editor Perry shows impressive talent as a novelist in her haunting debut. Like the stigmata of the saints, Lizzie DuBose's physical manifestations of the wounds of her African American ancestors are inexplicable and harrowing. Born in 1960, Lizzie struggles to understand why she relives her great-great-grandmother Ayo's travails, first on a slave ship, later at the hands of a ruthless slaveowner. Bleeding manacle-scars and flay marks on her back convince Lizzie that she's experiencing something more than psychosomatic pain, sleepwalking injuries or the insanity for which she is hospitalized for 14 years. She knows more about Ayo's life than can be gleaned from the diary that her great-grandmother Joy kept at the turn of the century. She knows, too, what secret torment compelled her grandmother Grace to leave her children in Alabama?and to will Lizzie the trunk that holds the quilt that tells Ayo's story. Ultimately, Lizzie must craft her own quilt of Grace's life to convince her mother than her out-of-body episodes come from true memories of past lives. Only when Lizzie understands the merging of spirits with pain-filled ancestors does she come to peace. Intricate, understated and beautifully controlled, this novel introduces a quietly provocative voice. Editor, Leigh Haber; rights sold in U.K., Germany, Holland; BOMC and QPB selections; finalist for QPB New Voice Award; author tour.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Perry, a Pulitzer Prize^-winning newspaper editor, launches her fiction debut with a work whose concerns mirror the traditional concerns of black writers such as Alice Walker and, especially, Toni Morrison; but Perry veers slightly off that beaten track with a story that will recall, for some readers, the works of such contemporary black science fiction writers as Octavia Butler and Tanaverie Due. Stigmata is the exciting tale of Lizzie, who at 14 inherits her grandmother's trunk and handmade quilt. Physical and psychological pain is bound up in those gifts; and from the moment Lizzie receives them, she begins a 20-year journey to learn the truth about her past and come to terms with her present so that she can function unafraid in her future. Her metaphysical episodes, dreams, memories, visions, and reincarnations distress her family; and the parents commit her to a mental hospital, where her rite of passage begins in earnest. Lizzie's determination and desire to know the truth are demonstrated in the magnificent twists and turns of a plot that reflects both the historical past and the middle-class present of African Americans in the U.S. A truly engrossing tale. Lillian Lewis --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 252 pages
• Publisher: Anchor (September 14, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385496354
• ISBN-13: 978-0385496353
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.5 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,232,195 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Blood is a powerful sign, October 28, 2000

By 

An 8-year old reader (Marysville, WA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Stigmata: A Novel (Paperback)

After receiving a quilt from her deceased grandmother, Lizzie begins to "travel" to past generations through dreams and visions. These visions become eerily "real" as Lizzie actually bleeds from empathetic wrist wounds (stigmata) inflicted on the slave Ayo, one of her ancestors. Others, including her own mother, suspect that she has attempted suicide and is losing her sanity. By the end of the novel, what Lizzie had learned about the lives of her ancestors puts her in a position to help bring healing to her own suffering mother.

Told through a series of flashbacks to various time periods and ancestors interspersed with scenes from Lizzie's present and past, this book is at first confusing and hard to follow -- yet it is always intriguing. This narrative style reflects Lizzie's own struggle: her life becomes disjointed and confusing as her identity and memories become entangled with those of her ancestors. As observed by a Catholic priest who offers comfort to Lizzie, the "blood [of her stigmata] is a powerful sign." This blood could serve as a symbol for the interconnectedness of generations whose history shapes the present.

If you enjoy a thinker's book, the kind that leads you to discover meaning without just laying it out plain as day, the kind with rich symbolism, pick up Stigmata. It'll give you lots to think about.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the art of storytelling, January 7, 2000

By 

nisha watson (durham,nc) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Stigmata: A Novel (Paperback)

Ms. Perry continues in the tradition of Toni Morrison (Beloved) and Octavia Butler (Kindred), acting as a keeper of history and telling the stories of our past. In an age when black people specifically and all people in general want to forget about the legacy of slavery, here comes along a book that tells a story in such a way as to grab the readers attention from the onset. A blend of natural and supernatural. What a way to tell a story. I would love to see the movie!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A work of pure inspiration, November 22, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Stigmata: A Novel (Paperback)

So much fiction that's published these days is so imitative that it's practically lifeless. That's why it is truly refreshing to finally pick up a novel that truly takes risks and tries to say something new. It's an amazing accomplishment for a novice; naturally, a new writer will have to grow and hone their craft and will make mistakes. However, with Ms. Perry there's surprisingly little of that. She's handled her material with remarkable poise and assurance. My hat's off to her!