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The Known World

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About this listen

In one of the most acclaimed novels in recent memory, Edward P. Jones, two-time National Book Award finalist, tells the story of Henry Townsend, a black farmer and former slave who falls under the tutelage of William Robbins, the most powerful man in Manchester County, Virginia. Making certain he never circumvents the law, Townsend runs his affairs with unusual discipline. But when death takes him unexpectedly, his widow, Caldonia, can't uphold the estate's order and chaos ensues. In a daring and ambitious novel, Jones has woven a footnote of history into an epic that takes an unflinching look at slavery in all of its moral complexities.

Performed by Kevin Free

 African American Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Historical Fiction Literary Fiction World Literature
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It took me a while to get a grip on the story because Jones details each character’s story and I didn’t know which bits to focus on. But when I fell in love with the main characters I was utterly gripped and realised it is a masterpiece. I realised every detail is worth paying attention to. And when I finished I immediately listened to it all over again in case I missed anything the first time. It ended with Hope. The writing is stunningly good. There’s a wisdom from the heart in it too that elevates it above just clever writing. Wow! I would like to meet Edward P Jones and ask him about things that still intrigue me. Sometimes there were bits of beautifully written magic realism that entranced me. What a book. Well worth the work

Amazing characters in a time where human beings were traded like goods.

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Fantastic, really interesting story construction, ends before beginnings, shouldn't work but really did. Loved it.

Gripping

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I downloaded this novel based on the great reviews for the paperback. Unfortunately I found that the style of novel did not work well as an audio book. I struggled to keep track of the different characters and the story was not sufficiently gripping for me to persevere.

Too complicated to work well as an audio book

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boring as hell . the worst audiobook i have bought by far .

the known world

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