New York: Random House, (1976) dj. Hardcover first edition - Her second novel. Toni Morrison, who had only published two novels herself at that time, was her editor at Random House for both of her first two novels. These first two books "form a diptych exploring the undercurrents of the psyche in a world of slave-owners, whoremongers, prostitutes, killers, man-eaters, jealous husbands, wayward wives, psych-ward inmates, pedophiles, wife-beaters, women in love with their abusers, and girls who carry knives. Nobody goes to church much." (author Calvin Baker). ÊJones was one of the first writers to show how the tentacles of slavery have extended into Black lives into the present day. Jones was recently the subject of an Atlantic Monthly article entitled "The Best American Novelist Whose Name You Might Not Know." by Calvin Baker. More than two decades after her novel "The Healing" was nominated for the National Book Award, and her life was roiled by tragedy, Êa new novel -which she has been working on for decades - Êwill be published by Beacon Press in 2021. 177 pp. Striking dust jacket design by Wendell Minor.