6 h 35 minAudiobook8 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
On a North Carolina vineyard, a tale of conjure can hide a sharp lesson about power.
In Charles W. Chesnutt’s The Conjure Woman, John and Annie move south after the Civil War for Annie’s health. They meet Uncle Julius McAdoo, a formerly enslaved man who knows the vineyard and has stories to tell. John listens with amusement and doubt. Annie pays closer attention.
These seven tales lead into plantation life, where masters hold power, families face separation, and conjure offers help or harm. The Goophered Grapevine, Po’ Sandy, and Mars Jeems’s Nightmare mix eerie folklore with cruelty and sly humor. Julius tells more than John always understands, making each story a contest over who sees clearly.
What you’ll discover
- A storyteller with purpose Watch Julius use charm and old tales to pursue quiet aims of his own.
- Grapes under a spell Enter The Goophered Grapevine, where Henry eats enchanted grapes and must live with the cure.
- Conjure and its bargains Meet Aunt Peggy, whose spells help, harm, and bargain for those who seek her.
- Beneath the gentle myth Face stories of slavery that challenge the comforting picture of a happy plantation.
- Two ways of listening Notice what separates John’s practical doubts from Annie’s more sympathetic attention to Julius.
Who will love it
For readers who love folk tales, American history, and sly narrators, and anyone curious about how Black writers answered the myth of the happy plantation.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A Northern couple meets Uncle Julius
- A vineyard is goophered and a man pays
- Conjure shields families from the master's power
- A cruel master learns what it is like
- What the tales say about power and survival
- How the voice and the frame work
Who’s who
- Uncle Julius McAdooA formerly enslaved man who knows the vineyard well and tells tales of the old days, often with a quiet aim of his own.
- JohnA practical Northern businessman who moves south and buys the vineyard, and who hears the tales with a mix of amusement and doubt.
- AnnieJohn's wife, who comes south for her health and listens to Julius with more sympathy and attention than her husband.
- Aunt PeggyThe conjure woman of the old plantation days, whose spells help, harm and bargain for the people who come to her.
- Mars Dugal McAdooThe master of the old plantation, who sees every person and every spell as a way to make money.
- HenryAn enslaved man who eats the goophered grapes by mistake and must live with the cure.
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- Paperback
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- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
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- Large print hardcover
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The Conjure Woman
by Charles W. Chesnutt · 1899
On a North Carolina vineyard, Uncle Julius tells tales of conjure to shape the choices of the land's new owners.
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In short
The Conjure Woman is a collection of seven stories by Charles W. Chesnutt, published in 1899.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A Northern couple meets Uncle Julius
The frame story begins with John, a man from Ohio who has money to invest and a wife in poor health. Annie's doctors say a warmer climate will help her. So the couple travel to North Carolina, look over the land near Patesville, and decide to buy an old vineyard. John sees a business chance in grapes and wine. He thinks of himself as practical and fair-minded.
On the property they find Uncle Julius McAdoo, an elderly Black man who has lived there for most of his life. Julius is polite, shrewd and full of talk. He knows every vine, every cabin and every rumor about the place. John notices that Julius seems to profit from the grapes in some small way, and he is not sure he likes it.
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What is The Conjure Woman about?
It is a collection of seven tales told by Uncle Julius McAdoo, a formerly enslaved man, to a Northern couple who buy a vineyard in North Carolina. The tales deal with slavery, family, and conjure, the folk magic of the enslaved South.
Who is Uncle Julius in The Conjure Woman?
Julius McAdoo is an elderly Black man who lives near the vineyard and tells stories of plantation days. He is a clever storyteller who often uses a tale to influence what John and Annie decide in the present.
What does goophered mean in The Conjure Woman?
To goopher something is to put a conjure spell on it. In the first tale, a grapevine is goophered by Aunt Peggy so that anyone who eats its grapes will sicken and die.
The author
Charles W. Chesnutt
1858–1932 · American novelist and story writer
Charles W. Chesnutt (1858–1932) was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and activist. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio, grew up in North Carolina, and returned to Cleveland in 1883. He published The Conjure Woman in 1899, The House Behind the Cedars in 1900, and The Marrow of Tradition in 1901.
More by Charles W. Chesnutt
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