The Quest of the Silver Fleece: A Novel

Originally published in 1911, The Quest of the Silver Fleece was the first novel to come from influential sociologist and civil-rights leader W. E. B. Du Bois. A controversial title of its time, the novel chronicles the complex interactions between Northern financing and Southern politics as it follows the story of free-spirited Zora, child of a Southern swamp, and her otherworldly romance with Yankee-educated Bles, the man who will one day abandon Zora for a life of wealth and power. In the middle of it all is the silver fleece, a crop of cotton rich with meaning and symbolism. Using literary conventions to expose and oppose America's views on race, Du Bois presents a sprawling and provocative work that continues to engage readers and inspire heated debate among literary scholars today.