To mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of its publication, Amistad is honored to reissue in hardcover Let the Lion Eat Straw, a dazzling, hymnlike novel that tells the story of Abeba Williams, whose mother abandons the poverty and despair of the South -- and in the process her daughter -- for opportunities up North. In the absence of her mother, Abeba clings to Mamma Habblesham, a woman with enviable reserves of love and hope. Their affection for each other seems boundless -- until Abeba's mother returns to take her daughter to Brooklyn. As she grows up, her exceptional musical talent promises to be an avenue of escape. But a handsome young singer distracts her, and opportunities that once seemed so close begin to fall away. Now married with children, Abeba fights to maintain the dignity of her family.

Replete with lyricism that lingers long after the reader has finished the last page, Let the Lion Eat Straw is a revelation of the glory in apparently ordinary lives.