Publisher's Synopsis
The Conjure Woman is a collection of short stories by American writer Charles W. Chesnutt. It is Chesnutt's first book, and an important work of African American literature. The seven stories deal with the racial issues facing the South after the war, often through the comments of the character of Uncle Julius McAdoo. A freed slave, he tells the stories to John and Annie, a white couple from the North, who are visiting in their search for property, as they are thinking of moving south (because of Annie's health) and of buying an old plantation in "Patesville," North Carolina. Uncle Julius's stories are derived from African-American folk tales and include many supernatural occurrences built around hoodoo conjuring traditions.
