Annis’s mother takes her into the woods at night to train her in hand-to-hand combat. Her mother’s mother, nicknamed “Mama Aza,” had been a Dahomey warrior, but was sold into slavery by her husband, the king — as punishment for falling in love with a soldier. “Annis?” her mother calls from the hallway, trying to prevent her daughter from repeating her own fate. “We done.” This brief expression of maternal protectiveness gets her mother sold, led away by a “Georgia Man” who takes her south to Louisiana. (This moment marks the end of any deep engagement with same-sex desire in the novel, making its brief appearance feel likes tokenism.)

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Persons: Annis’s, “ Mama Aza, ”, Ward, Annis, “ Annis, protectiveness, Safi, Mama Aza, “, huff, ” Annis Locations: Dahomey, Georgia, Louisiana, New Orleans, ” New Orleans