When Honoree Fanonne Jeffers first started to write her epic American novel The Love Songs of WEB Du Bois, recently praised by everyone from Barack Obama to Oprah Winfrey and Alice Walker, it was something very different. It was 2012, and the award-winning poet and professor was playing with the coming-of-age tale of Ailey, a forthright, funny young girl growing up in the 1970s and '80s. “I’d wanted to write something commercial, a beach read, maybe,” she remembers with some amusement.
And then, Jeffers started having vivid dreams. People she took to be Ailey’s ancient ancestors would appear and disappear, their stories of slavery and struggle echoing through time.
“And you can’t have a light, amusing story about slavery, can you? There is nothing funny in that. It was at that moment, two years or so in, that I realised the scope of this novel, how ambitious it was going to be. And that’s when I became very terrified!
“But you know, I was just like, ‘go big, or go home’.”
Jeffers roars with laughter. Spending time in her company over Zoom is just like sitting with Ailey’s family; no-nonsense, unapologetic, riotous but thoughtful. And with The Love Songs Of WEB Du Bois, she certainly did go big.
It’s taken nine years to write, but you can see why the praise from Walker, in particular, means so much to Jeffers. Her debut is filled with references to The Color Purple and she freely admits the debt she owes to the first female African-American to win the Pulitzer; they even have links to the same Georgia town. In years to come, it’s not exaggerating to suggest that The Love Songs Of WEB Du Bois will stand alongside that novel as one of the defining expressions of the American experience.
It begins with one of the "songs" that punctuate the novel and give it historical context, as enslaved Africans and native Americans are brutalised by European traders in the American South. Then, we’re transported forward into the late 20th century, with young Ailey as our narrator; spending her summers in the small Georgia town which holds the whispers and traumas of all the women in her maternal line.
In following her own path and finding her own identity, Ailey uncovers the stories of oppression and cruelty - but also resistance and resilience. How does Jeffers feel about her debut being called a Great American Novel?
“It’s been kind of wonderful to hear that from people … and then I have to go and faint,” she says with a smile. “What I will say is that usually when women write books like these, they’re made to be smaller, they become a family drama. When men do the same, there’s always some sort of larger picture. The family in my book, though, are a mixed-race metaphor for America.”
Talking to Jeffers, it becomes clear that her greatest worry isn’t what critics think at all, but that people might consider an 800-page “black feminist” novel too daunting. It isn’t, by the way – this is an important, intelligent history with heart and soul.
“I wanted an emotional novel, first of all,” she confirms. “A book that regular people who have never read a book this long could engage with, that would make them laugh and cry.”
And then, perhaps, understand intellectually. The scholar, sociologist and civil rights activist who gives the novel its name worked his entire life for black advancement and respect. Du Bois also wrote about double consciousness – a sensitivity that every African-American needs to survive. When Ailey’s Uncle Root – her own spiritual, intellectual and emotional guide – meets Du Bois in the book, it doesn’t go well. But he doesn’t blame him.
“Uncle Root is a biracial black man born in the American South in 1907; his very presence was illegal,” she ponders. “So what would he have gone through, how would he have kept his humanity? How would be such a kind man have almost been lynched, having witnessed all of these racial humiliations?
Jeffers knows that some readers might be unhappy that she hasn’t “Disneyfied” slavery or what was to come. White people in the South were appalling – though the book does infer that the power structures made it impossible not to be sucked into the supremacist dynamic. “I was just trying to figure out what choices people could make; when you get a monster in the book, how did a person like this come to be?” she says.
I wanted an emotional novel, first of all ... A book that regular people who have never read a book this long could engage with, that would make them laugh and cry
Honoree Fanone Jeffers,
American author
Right at the end, the possibility of Senator Barack Obama getting into the White House is mentioned – a notion described as both ridiculous and a beautiful dream. Even though Jeffers jokes that her arm had to be twisted by her agent to include it, the short exchange doesn’t feel throwaway in the context of how the book is read now. An African-American president happened.
“When President Obama was elected that first time and I saw him put his hand on that Bible, I said, okay, we're done with all this. That's how naive I was,” she says of the suggestion that somehow his presidency pointed towards a more perfect union, the end of history, the start of something more profound.
Actually, what happened next makes Love Songs more vital than ever – almost inadvertently, it’s become a reflection of “how we came to be in this place called America the way we are now”.
As someone who is not a black American, I hesitate before I suggest her novel is also a celebration of possibility and hope. But Jeffers doesn’t mind.
“When people say they’re tired of hearing about slavery, that they want some joy … the joy is that we are here,” she says. “These people from our past prayed for a moment that they knew they were never going to see. My mother’s father could not read or write. Thirty years after he died, she earned a doctorate.
“We now know what’s possible.”
'The Love Songs of WEB Du Bois' (4th Estate) is out now
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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PRISCILLA
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MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Bayern Munich v Real Madrid
When: April 25, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Allianz Arena, Munich
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 1, Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Bridgerton%20season%20three%20-%20part%20one
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Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Titanium Escrow profile
Started: December 2016
Founder: Ibrahim Kamalmaz
Based: UAE
Sector: Finance / legal
Size: 3 employees, pre-revenue
Stage: Early stage
Investors: Founder's friends and Family
Iftar programme at the Sheikh Mohammed Centre for Cultural Understanding
Established in 1998, the Sheikh Mohammed Centre for Cultural Understanding was created with a vision to teach residents about the traditions and customs of the UAE. Its motto is ‘open doors, open minds’. All year-round, visitors can sign up for a traditional Emirati breakfast, lunch or dinner meal, as well as a range of walking tours, including ones to sites such as the Jumeirah Mosque or Al Fahidi Historical Neighbourhood.
Every year during Ramadan, an iftar programme is rolled out. This allows guests to break their fast with the centre’s presenters, visit a nearby mosque and observe their guides while they pray. These events last for about two hours and are open to the public, or can be booked for a private event.
Until the end of Ramadan, the iftar events take place from 7pm until 9pm, from Saturday to Thursday. Advanced booking is required.
For more details, email openminds@cultures.ae or visit www.cultures.ae
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
THE%20SPECS
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Where can I submit a sample?
Volunteers can now submit DNA samples at a number of centres across Abu Dhabi. The programme is open to all ages.
Collection centres in Abu Dhabi include:
- Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC)
- Biogenix Labs in Masdar City
- Al Towayya in Al Ain
- NMC Royal Hospital in Khalifa City
- Bareen International Hospital
- NMC Specialty Hospital, Al Ain
- NMC Royal Medical Centre - Abu Dhabi
- NMC Royal Women’s Hospital.
If you go...
Etihad Airways flies from Abu Dhabi to Kuala Lumpur, from about Dh3,600. Air Asia currently flies from Kuala Lumpur to Terengganu, with Berjaya Hotels & Resorts planning to launch direct chartered flights to Redang Island in the near future. Rooms at The Taaras Beach and Spa Resort start from 680RM (Dh597).
LIVERPOOL%20TOP%20SCORERS
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The alternatives
• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.
• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.
• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.
• 2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.
• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases - but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.
UAE v Zimbabwe A, 50 over series
Fixtures
Thursday, Nov 9 - 9.30am, ICC Academy, Dubai
Saturday, Nov 11 – 9.30am, ICC Academy, Dubai
Monday, Nov 13 – 2pm, Dubai International Stadium
Thursday, Nov 16 – 2pm, ICC Academy, Dubai
Saturday, Nov 18 – 9.30am, ICC Academy, Dubai
The%C2%A0specs%20
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Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
Company%20profile
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UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
