Corregidora

By Gayl Jones,

Book cover of Corregidora

Book description

One of The New Yorker’s “The Best Books We Read in 2020” picks

“Jones’s great achievement is to reckon with both history and interiority, and to collapse the boundary between them.”—Anna Wiener, The New Yorker

The new edition of an American masterpiece, this is the harrowing story of Ursa Corregidora,…

Shepherd is reader supported. When you buy books, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Why read it?

1 author picked Corregidora as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

No one writes like Gayl Jones.

Her language, voice, and narrative style make her a singular entity all unto herself. Her first novel, Corregidora, explores the tumultuous life of a blues singer haunted by a dastardly familial trauma. When the novel opens, the protagonist, Ursa Corregidora, has just suffered a horrible accident that renders her unable to have children. 

What happens afterwards is a complex and raw exploration of lineage, darkness, and sexuality. It’s a haunting, relentless book. And it’s not hyperbole to say that it changed the course of black women’s literature.

The rest of us, trying to…

From Tracey's list on race and reproductive rights.

Want books like Corregidora?

Our community of 10,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like Corregidora.

Browse books like Corregidora

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in African Americans, Slavery, and reproductive rights?

10,000+ authors have recommended their favorite books and what they love about them. Browse their picks for the best books about African Americans, Slavery, and reproductive rights.

African Americans Explore 727 books about African Americans
Slavery Explore 285 books about Slavery
Reproductive Rights Explore 25 books about reproductive rights