Stigmata: A Novel
Stigmata: A Novel by Phyllis Alesia Perry is a reprint edition published by Anchor on September 14, 1999. This 252-page novel explores the legacy of slavery through the experiences of Lizzie Du Bose, who inherits a handmade quilt from a grandmother she never knew. The quilt serves as a conduit to the stories of her ancestors, Grace and Ayo, revealing a psychological mystery that intertwines Lizzie’s life with their haunting past.
Readers will find a narrative that delves into themes of heritage and trauma, as Lizzie grapples with terrifying dreams and visions that connect her to Ayo’s experiences as a slave. The quilt becomes a symbol of both connection and pain, leading Lizzie to confront the reality of her inheritance. As she awakens to find her body marked with scars reminiscent of Ayo’s manacles, Lizzie faces a profound dilemma: is she losing her grip on reality, or is she forging an extraordinary link to her ancestry? Stigmata presents a thought-provoking exploration of identity and the psychological impacts of history.
Official synopsis Publisher
A powerful and imaginative debut novel about the legacy of slavery, and the psychological mystery surrounding a troubled young woman.
When Lizzie Du Bose inherits a handmade quilt willed to her by a maternal grandmother she has never met, her life is forever changed. The figures sewn into the quilt tell the stories of Lizzie’s grandmother Grace, and Grace’s grandmother Ayo, who was abducted from Africa as a girl and sent as a slave to America. As Lizzie learns, the quilt seems to hold the key to a past that haunts her, at first through terrifyngly lifellike dreams, and finally through visions that seem to take Lizzie back in time, fusing her own life with the lives of Grace and Ayo.
One night, Lizzie awakens to find the quilt soaked in blood, and discovers horrible wounds on her wrists and back. Wracked with pain, Lizzie has no memory of having harmed herself, but she believes Ayo’s manacle scars have appeared on her own body–as real an inheritence as Grace’s quilt. Now Lizzie must decide whether she has begun a descent into madness, or made an extraordinary connection to the past. A compelling and utterly intriguing tale, Stigmata weaves together the stories of three women at once blessed with a powerful vision, and cursed by a shared legacy of slavery, pain, and struggle.
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