Afia Atakora: On the Unwritten Stories of Women Throughout History, Ghosts and Magic and Her Debut Novel "Conjure Women"
Women are at the forefront of an overlooked time in history in Afia Atakora’s debut novel, Conjure Women. Alternating in chapters titled “Slaverytime” and “Freedomtime,” we follow Miss May Belle — a “conjure woman” known for casting spells to relieve ailments and helping fellow enslaved women with childbirth—and May Belle’s daughter, Rue, who is learning from her mother as she comes of age. As Rue grapples with whether to follow in her mother’s footsteps as a midwife, the birth of an accursed child brings back memories and hauntings from the past.
I spoke with Afia Atakora via email where she discusses the complex relationships of mothers and daughters, magic, religion and ghosts, the unwritten stories of women throughout history, and what sparked the idea for her new novel, Conjure Women.
What sparked the idea for this novel? What were sources of inspiration for you?
I’ve always been fascinated by historical and medical facts, little known details, or quirky oddities. I knew I wanted to write a story about the Reconstruction era, precisely because it feels like a singular but overlooked time in US history. But I happened upon the spark for the story quite by accident while casually scrolling the internet. I clicked on a Youtube video that showed an unusual homebirth, a baby born fully encased in its amniotic sac. I was taken by the midwife in the video who quickly stepped in and knew just what to do, how easily she adapted to the situation and brought the baby, squalling, into the world. It was an event that felt both miraculous and ordinary, the timelessness of birth coupled with the specific information-age technology that meant I, a stranger, could watch that miracle take place. I began to think about what a birth like this might look like in another time and place, and who that midwife would be, and a story began to take shape.
Rue comes of age amidst the plantation’s healing women and midwife, her mother Miss May Belle. Rue is both in awe of and wary of her mother’s “power” and means of healing. How does this influence the woman Rue becomes?
The novel is very much a coming-of-age novel about womanhood and the complex relationships between mothers and daughters. Rue lives in a world that looks completely different from the one her mother lived in and so she has to grapple with which lessons of her mother’s she can use in her own life. I think it's universal for daughters to at once be in awe of their mothers while also fearing that they will become them, and so that truth shapes Rue’s entire journey.
Religion, faith, and ghosts play key roles throughout this story. Bruh Abel seeks to bring the word of God to the people of the town. Rue seems to put more of her faith or trust in haints, however, Miss May Belle understands that “Faith in magic was far more potent than magic itself.” Can you speak about the importance of magic, religion, and ghosts throughout the novel?
It felt natural to explore these elements-- magic, religion, ghosts -- in a novel about what is passed down through generations, particularly within the African Diaspora. Through strife and adversity, in lives where the tangible can feel especially brutal, these elements survive as both a source of hope and a way to instill cautionary fear. They are also tools of power -- a preacher, a healer, and a ghost are all imbued with knowledge that hovers somewhere above the ordinary realms of man, and the novel explores how assigning supposed power on to those figures shapes the actions of the whole community.
This very much a story about women— their complex relationships with one another, the way they live and work together, their trust in each other to bring healing to themselves and their families — why was it important for you to create a female driven story?
Women in history are often described as little more than mothers or daughters or wives, defined wholly by their relationship to men of note. The nuance of women’s lives and experiences is particularly lacking in stories about war and strife. History tends to focus where the action is, focus on the rebels, the fighters, deep within the trenches. But in writing and researching Conjure Women I was drawn to these absences and to stories of quiet but timeless endurance that exist unwritten for women between the pages of history.
Conjure Women is your debut novel. What were some of the challenges while writing? Could you tell us about any triumphs, surprising or not, that you experienced?
While writing I discovered there were so many ways to tell a story. Shifting a sentence, a scene, or even a whole chapter could create new meaning. It was absolutely a learning experience, particularly in the editing process, to reimagine and rediscover ways the story could unfold. Ultimately the biggest triumph was pushing through that last big edit and surprising even myself with how much clearer and closer to my original vision the story could become.
How long did it take you to write Conjure Women? Do you keep a specific writing routine or practice?
The first draft was quick, about nine months, so quick that I don’t think I quite understood the story I was trying to tell yet. Editing took about another two years and in that time it was helpful to get some distance from the story and to share it with others to see what parts resonated with them. For me, the early draft is the fun, unruly part and I don’t adhere to a strict routine. Editing requires more structure and I tend to go through the whole novel several times, reworking character, plot, voice etc. in separate passes.
What did your approach to research look like?
In each phase of my research, my focus was on finding the most personal and intimate accounts. I read a lot of diaries and autobiographies and explored documents like ship manifests and plantation records. For the details of the medical, I had the opportunity to speak with doctors, nurses, and midwives not necessarily to get each scientific detail perfectly right but rather to listen to the way medical professionals spoke, the anecdotes they shared, and the stories that had the biggest impact on them emotionally.
What is some advice you can give aspiring writers that helped you while writing this novel?
Everyone always says “read” but I will add to this: “engage with stories.” Storytelling happens in so many ways, in books yes, but also in TV, in film, in advertisements, in news reports, in your favorite song, in a friend’s anecdote or a well told joke. If a story affects you, look at it critically, examine what aspect of the telling surprises you or excites you, makes you happy or sad or scared, and remember that feeling the next time you sit down to write.
Afia Atakora was born in the United Kingdom and raised in New Jersey, where she now lives. She graduated from New York University and has an MFA from Columbia University, where she was the recipient of the De Alba Fellowship. Her fiction has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and she was a finalist for the Hurston/Wright Award for College Writers.
