Reading guide for The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois by Honorée Fannone Jeffers

Reading Guide Questions

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

1. The life and legacy of W.E.B Du Bois plays a central role in this novel, from the title, to the quotations at the start of each section, to the many conversations Uncle Root, Ailey, and others have about the great scholar. What was Uncle Root trying to teach Ailey through his many musings on Du Bois? What is the author trying to communicate to readers through the inclusion of Du Bois's words and history in the novel?
2. What role does colorism play in the book, both for Ailey and for the members of her family across generations? How does Ailey experience colorism in her family, in her personal and romantic setting, throughout her academic career?
3. Chicasetta, Georgia is a key location in Ailey's present-day story and in the "sorrow songs" of her maternal ancestors, who were once enslaved on the land their descendants now inhabit. What do you make of Chicasetta and the hallowed landmarks there: the Mound and Red Mound Church, Uncle Root's pecan tree, and the former Pinchard planation? What role do these places play in Ailey's understanding of her family's history and of her own place in the world?
4. Discuss the role education plays in the novel, particularly for Uncle Root and Ailey. How does Ailey's family history of education affect her own educational direction? How does her relationship to education inform her relationships with her family and her peers?
5. How do Ailey's experiences differ as she moves between predominantly white institutions like Braithwaite and North Carolina Regents University and Historically Black Colleges and Universities like Routledge? How does she feel she is perceived in these different institutions? How does she view herself with regard to these institutions and how do those perceptions change over the course of the novel?
6. As we follow Ailey's story, we also learn the stories of her Black and Indigenous ancestors in what would become Chicasetta. How do these ancestral experiences of oppression and resistance, bondage and independence, cruelty and resilience come to bear on Ailey's life? How do they inform the lives of the older generations in Ailey's family like Uncle Root, Dear Pearl, and Belle?
7. When Ailey and Dr. Oludara visit Moss Road Plantation, the caretaker glosses over the brutal history of the place and focuses instead on its architectural history. Throughout the novel, Ailey encounters many historical and family truths that are misrepresented or rewritten entirely. Recall some of these instances. What was the purpose of the lie? Who did it benefit? Who did it hurt?

Unless otherwise stated, this discussion guide is reprinted with the permission of Harper Perennial. Any page references refer to a USA edition of the book, usually the trade paperback version, and may vary in other editions.