SONG FOR ALMEYDA & SONG FOR ANNINHO

The mercurial and provocative Jones follows up Palmares (2021), her novel of 17th-century Brazilian slavery, in the unlikely and, yes, provocative form of an epic narrative poem.

The starkly rendered imagery and intensely orchestrated language in such Jones novels as Corregidora (1975) and Eva’s Man (1976) suggest that she has always been as compelling a poet as a storyteller. Her new book is a poem in two parts, Song for Anninho having been first published 40 years ago as prelude to Palmares, her sprawling, epochal bildungsroman about Almeyda, a young enslaved Black Brazilian woman, and her tumultuous adventures under different masters before escaping bondage with her husband, Anninho, to the refuge of Palmares. As readers of the novel will recall, the community is ravaged by war, scattering the survivors and sending Almeyda on a yearslong search for the missing Anninho. The newer of the two “songs,” which opens this duo, finds Anninho safely bivouacked from his pursuers and preparing for the battle to build a “New Palmares.” He is seeking answers from a curandero (or healer) as to the safety and location of his wife and speaks with other exiled Palmarenians: “Men and women who want to be / Who they are / Some must be taught to be / Themselves / But rebels are rebels.” Anninho also conducts imaginary conversations with Almeyda, whom he assures “the war has not / Ended. But / here in these caverns are the / African waters that / heal.” Meanwhile, in her song to Anninho, Almeyda conducts imaginary conversations with her husband, as she has been viciously enslaved again; at times, she grudgingly returns to a reality where she will sometimes “cross my hands over breasts / that are no longer there.” The pain and mortification of her abusive imprisonment are relieved by her reminiscences of her previous life and dreams of the distant prospects for freedom. There is fierce and evocative intimacy in these songs that contrast sharply with the sweeping momentum and formidable amplitude of the storytelling in Palmares. Readers familiar with both books will likely suspect that there’s far more to come in the saga of these besieged yet rhapsodic revolutionaries. For readers who are more encouraged than intimidated by Jones’ steely focus and breadth of vision, this is an important stop on a remarkable journey.

This book’s magic is different than that of its predecessor, yet the spells they cast are comparably powerful.