First published in 1899, The Conjure Woman is considered a seminal work of African-American literature composed of seven short stories, set in Patesville, North Carolina.

[2] In March of 1898, Page wrote Chesnutt to inform him that Houghton Mifflin would consider publishing a short-story collection with "the same original quality" as "The Goophered Grapevine" and "Po' Sandy".

[1][3][4] Over the next two months, Chesnutt wrote six additional stories, four of which were selected by Page and other editors at Houghton Mifflin to appear in The Conjure Woman, including "Mars Jeems's Nightmare", "Sis' Becky's Pickaninny", "The Gray Wolf's Ha'nt", and "Hot-Foot Hannibal".

One friend wrote a "chiding" letter to the editor of the Atlanta Constitution, that published a favorable review of the book, accompanied by a portrait of Chesnutt to prove his race.

John passes along the "conjure tales" told to him by Uncle Julius McAdoo, an ex-slave who serves as both a trickster figure and a subversive witness.

[9] Each story features a conjurer, most notably Aun' Peggy in "Po' Sandy," "Mars Jeems's Nightmare," "Sis' Becky's Pickaninny," and "Hot Foot Hannibal."

[4][11] Critics noted that Chesnutt deploys a clichéd or codified structure, with a friendly former slave recounting a story to white Northerners, and creates a familiar impression of antebellum nostalgia.

The tales told by Julius are more tragic than wistful and underscore a deceptive naivety and mysticism with a subtle, sly challenge to white authority.

[12] Julius contradicts the dominant racial discourse of the late-nineteenth and twentieth centuries, depicting black resistance and survival as well as demonstrating the psychological effects of oppression and slavery.

[1][10][8] Despite their enslavement, Uncle Julius and other slaves leveraged power in exchange for information, favors, or conjuring, and demonstrate their intelligence through plots of self-gain and sometimes revenge.

To protect his grapes from being stolen, Master McAdoo consulted with a conjure woman, Aunt Peggy, who placed a curse on the vineyard and warned the slaves that whoever stole them, would die within a year.

[14] This second short story was published in The Atlantic in 1888 and it follows the same frame narrative as the previous one with Julius McAdoo advising John against following through with his plans of demolishing a schoolhouse to build a kitchen.

However, as McAdoo relates, one day McSwayne decides to have the tree cut down to build floorboards in his kitchen, ending the life of Sandy.

[14] In this third short story of The Conjure Woman, it opens up with John informing McAdoo that he can no longer let his grandson work in the plantation because he is not a good worker.

One of these enslaved men, Solomon, asks Aunt Peggy, a conjure woman, for help, at which point she hexes Mars Jeem's soup.

As the story goes, McAdoo advises John against buying the mule and instead encourages him to purchase a horse, which turns out to be sick and unreliable, thus dying.

[14] This short story of The Conjure Woman now follows John as he reproaches McAdoo for all of his superstitious beliefs and how they lack foundation, commenting that these traditions are the reason why Southern Black people are destined for a life of continued acquiescence and little prosperity.

As he bleeds to death, Uncle Jube reveals his intentions by letting Dan know that now they are even and to drink the potion that will turn him back into his human form.

Ending the tale with Dan haunting his wife's grave forever, McAdoo argues that John must stay away from that piece of land.

Searching for a solution, Chloe and Jeff go to Aunt Peggy, who gives them a conjure doll that is meant to intervene with Hannibal's performance to the extent that his master sends him to work the fields again.