The Dragons, the Giant, the Women: A Memoir

When Wayétu Moore turns five years old, her father & grandmother throw her a big birthday party at their home in Monrovia, Liberia, but all she can think about is how much she misses her mother, who is working & studying in faraway New York. Before she gets the reunion her father promised her, war breaks out in Liberia. The family is forced to flee their home on foot, walking & hiding for three weeks until they arrive in the village of Lai. Finally, a rebel soldier smuggles them across the border to Sierra Leone, reuniting the family & setting them off on yet another journey, this time to the United States.

Spanning this harrowing journey in Moore’s early childhood, her years adjusting to life in Texas as a black woman & an immigrant, & her eventual return to Liberia, The Dragons, the Giant, the Women is a deeply moving story of the search for home in the midst of upheaval. Moore has a novelist’s eye for suspense & emotional depth, & this unforgettable memoir is full of imaginative, lyrical flights & lush prose. In capturing both the hazy magic & the stark realities of what is becoming an increasingly pervasive experience, Moore shines a light on the great political & personal forces that continue to affect many migrants around the world, & calls us all to acknowledge the tenacious power of love & family.