The Seven Daughters of Dupree - by Nikesha Elise Williams (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

From the two-time Emmy Award-winning producer and host of the Black and Published podcast comes a sweeping multi-generational epic following seven generations of Dupree women as they navigate love, loss, and the unyielding ties of family in the tradition of Homegoing and The Love Songs of W.E.B. DuBois.

It's 1995, and fourteen-year-old Tati is determined to uncover the identity of her father. But her mother, Nadia, keeps her secrets close, while her grandmother Gladys remains silent about the family's past, including why she left Land's End, Alabama, in 1953. As Tati digs deeper, she uncovers a legacy of family secrets, where every generation of Dupree women has posed more questions than answers.

From Jubi in 1917, whose attempt to pass for white ends when she gives birth to Ruby; to Ruby's fiery lust for Sampson in 1934 that leads to a baby of her own; to the night in 1980 that changed Nadia's future forever, the Dupree women carry the weight of their heritage. Bound by a mysterious malediction that means they will only give birth to daughters, the Dupree women confront a legacy of pain, resilience, and survival that began with an enslaved ancestor who risked everything for freedom.

The Seven Daughters of Dupree masterfully weaves together themes of generational trauma, Black women's resilience, and unbreakable familial bonds. Echoing the literary power of The Twelve Tribes of Hattie by Ayana Mathis, Nikesha Elise Williams delivers a feminist literary fiction that explores the ripple effects of actions, secrets, and love through seven generations of Black women.

Review Quotes

"The nonlinear narrative builds to a breathtaking and heartbreaking climax... An epic tale of resilience." --Publishers Weekly

"Outstanding... Epic, expansive, and excellent, this page-turning novel will have readers rooting for all the Dupree women, right to the gasp-worthy, unforgettable end." --Library Journal (Starred Review)

"The Seven Daughters of Dupree is a remarkable, ambitious debut and an outstanding portrait of generations of women. As intimate as it is expansive, Nikesha Elise Williams's novel is tender, vividly written, and unforgettable." --Jami Attenberg, New York Times bestselling author of THE MIDDLESTEINS

"In The Seven Daughters of Dupree, mothers are mysteries for daughters to unfold, ancestral spirits entangle grieving hearts among the living, and--as always with Black folks--our hair, our land, and our blood embody whole worlds beneath the surface. Nikesha Elise Williams conjures the worlds of the Dupree women with powerful, lyrical prose, and a deep, deep knowing about Black women's resilience and intimacies, from Africa to Alabama. This gripping intergenerational saga is haunting, heartbreaking, and utterly unforgettable." --Deesha Philyaw, author of THE SECRET LIVES OF CHURCH LADIES, a National Book Award Finalist

"Nikesha Elise Williams is a writer of transcendent, vivid power. The Seven Daughters of Dupree is a novel of unflinching honesty and explosive secrets -- and the galloping, haunting prose captures not only the heartbreak of oppression, but also the breathtaking moral beauty of resilience, honesty, and the soul's endurance. I admire this book deeply, and it deserves to be not only read, but celebrated." --Elizabeth Gilbert, New York Times Bestselling author of CITY OF GIRLS

"Oh, how I have been waiting for this novel, The Seven Daughters of Dupree--waiting for such a gathering of women, family, resilience, and love! What an astonishing gift from Nikesha Elise Williams, this writer who has come into her glorious own--and what generosity in sharing this gift with us all."--Honorée Fanonne Jeffers, New York Times bestselling author of THE LOVE SONGS OF W.E.B. Du BOIS

"Through Nikesha Elise Williams' skillful telling, The Seven Daughters of Dupree grows as intricate as the braids that hold her characters' deepest secrets and dreams. Powerful forces intermingle -- legacy and loss, joy and pain, pride and shame -- and by the end I felt, with the details of this epic, intergenerational story still lingering in my mind, as if I'd been invited to do exactly as one of the titular daughters describes: 'to fellowship in the ways only women can.'"--Dawnie Walton, author of THE FINAL REVIVAL OF OPAL & NEV

"Weaving together the stories of the complex lives of several generations of Black women from the 1860s to the 2020s, Williams delivers accounts of self-determination, resilience, and resistance... A beautifully woven motif of Black women caring for each other's hair as a comfort, livelihood, or sign of closeness runs throughout the book, reinforcing the images of female power. Williams' genealogy of pain and survival pulls no punches." --Kirkus Reviews

About the Author

Nikesha Elise Williams is a two-time Emmy Award-winning producer, an award-winning author, and producer and host of the Black and Published podcast. A narrative strategist by day and journalist always, her work has appeared in The Washington Post, Essence, and Vox. Nikesha is a Kimbilio Fiction Fellow and a DeGroot Foundation Writer of Note grantee. A Chicago native, she lives in Florida with her family.