The Dragons, the Giant, the Women: A Memoir

Wayétu Moore (Author)
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Description

An engrossing memoir of escaping the First Liberian Civil War and building a life in the United States

When Wayétu Moore turns five years old, her father and grandmother throw her a big birthday party at their home in Monrovia, Liberia, but all she can think about is how much she misses her mother, who is working and studying in faraway New York. Before she gets the reunion her father promised her, war breaks out in Liberia. The family is forced to flee their home on foot, walking and hiding for three weeks until they arrive in the village of Lai. Finally, a rebel soldier smuggles them across the border to Sierra Leone, reuniting the family and setting them off on yet another journey, this time to the United States.

Spanning this harrowing journey in Moore's early childhood, her years adjusting to life in Texas as a black woman and an immigrant, and her eventual return to Liberia, The Dragons, the Giant, the Women is a deeply moving story of the search for home in the midst of upheaval. Moore has a novelist's eye for suspense and emotional depth, and this unforgettable memoir is full of imaginative, lyrical flights and lush prose. In capturing both the hazy magic and the stark realities of what is becoming an increasingly pervasive experience, Moore shines a light on the great political and personal forces that continue to affect many migrants around the world, and calls us all to acknowledge the tenacious power of love and family.

Product Details

Price
$26.00  $23.92
Publisher
Graywolf Press
Publish Date
June 02, 2020
Pages
272
Dimensions
6.4 X 9.1 X 1.1 inches | 1.2 pounds
Language
English
Type
Hardcover
EAN/UPC
9781644450314

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About the Author

Wayétu Moore is the author of She Would Be King and the founder of One Moore Book. She is a graduate of Howard University, Columbia University, and the University of Southern California. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Reviews

"The Dragons, the Giant, the Women is a beautifully written book about the experience of migrating--a story, particularly in this moment, that can never be told enough."--Bitch Media

"Building to a thrumming crescendo, the pages almost fly past. Readers will be both enraptured and heartbroken by Moore's intimate yet epic story of love for family and home."--Publishers Weekly, starred review

"Wayétu Moore has written an elegant, inspired, page-turning memoir I couldn't put down. Destined to become a classic!"--Mary Karr

"A riveting narrative of survival and resilience and a tribute to the fierce love between parents and children."--Mary Laura Philpott

"A propulsive, heart-rending memoir of love and war and peace. . . . The Dragons, The Giant, the Women is a major contribution to the new literature of African immigration."--Namwali Serpell

"Deft and deeply human, Wayetu Moore's The Dragons, the Giant, the Women had me pinned from its first page to its last."--Mira Jacob

"A moving and richly drawn tale of a family threatened by violence in '90s Liberia. . . . A powerful, utterly convincing, and unforgettable story."--Chigozie Obioma

"Wayétu Moore stretches the art of writing on family, war, and movement to mythical heights with her otherworldly poeticism."--Morgan Jerkins
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