I have to say that I am very disappointed. I saw this author give an hour long interview on TV and I was so psyched to read this book. What a letdown! A previous reviewer noted that this book read like a dissertation and they are absolutely correct. I am finding it difficult to keep the many names and lineages straight because I am so bogged down by all the minutia & constant interruptions - speculations, opinions, etc... This style does not lend itself to a cohesive read. The subject matter is fascinating, the method used to convey the information leaves much to be desired. It would be best to purchase this book in hard copy so that you are able to reread convoluted passages as necessary to fully grasp their meaning. I am also approx. 5 hours in and am lost. I am torn between starting over and trying again from the beginning or just simply throwing in the proverbial towel. The narrator's voice and delivery are fine, she does a good job with what she has to work with, but listening to this book has the same effect on me that a white noise machie does. I am kicking myself for not listening to the other poor reviews.

A wealth of information a good history lesson on the art of power....Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemmings both making decisions that has effected our country up to now.. A great listen☺️

A unique perspective on T. Jefferson. The author tries to embellish and fill in historical information left vacant over the centuries. For the most part, she does a pretty good job at it. The narration is slow....but if you put your MP3 player on fast audio speed...the narrtive picked up to a more reasonable listening pace. The first half of the book there is some repetition of facts, etc. The publisher should find better editors. All in all...a nice read.

Anette Gordon-Reed's book is a long and well researched work. Parts of it are very informative. However, she puts a lot of thoughts into her characters heads which may be fine when talking about Jefferson or Martha Jefferson Randolph who left many many many letters to be poured over and analyzed.

The Hemmingses have no such record and while I didn't always disagree with her assumption about what they were thinking and feeling I did often think it was pretty presumptuous. I don't profess to know the thoughts of people in complex living situations who are living today... much less ones living 200 hears ago.

Unless you're a historian, or descended from the line of Hemings or Jefferson, or both, you might find this book to be a tedious go. I did not even get through part one of four before giving up, so buried was I in incredible minutia in headache-procucing detail. I did find some information that was of interest, but nowhere near enough to make this an entertaining "read." Unlike another historical book that comes to mind, Sarah Vowell's "The Wordy Shipmate," about colonial America and written with wit and compassion, read by the author herself with those same qualities, "The Hemingses of Monticello" is both written and read in a dry and uninspired style (IMHO). I don't mean that this is a _bad_ book by any means, but if you're looking to be entertained while you learn, try something else.

I was so excited about this book I didn't pay full attention to the reviews. Man... the content is interesting but the narration is little better than automated text to voice by a computer. Robotic, halting and over enunciated as if completely unfamiliar with the content, the reader is unable to formulate the narration in a meaningful way for the listener. I listen to a LOT of historical books and usually love them. I'll plow my way thru this but it will not be pleasant.

This is the only book that I have ever given up listening to. The narrator's monotonous voice coupled with the endlessly repetitious and supremely obvious observations from the author had me screaming in my car for them to get on with it.

The whole book could be summarized in just a few short sentences (SPOILER ALERT): slave owners had power; slaves did not. Slaves didn't like being slaves; slaves were treated differently than free people. Thomas Jefferson owned slaves and Sally Hemings was one of them.

The author has taken what should have been a 2-page monograph and spun it into a 3-section book by constantly regurgitating the same information.

Very disappointing

I have no idea why this got so much acclaim. Poorly written and lilttle new information. Repetitive, too. And repetitive.

Gordon-Reed richly deserves the academic and popular acclaim she has achieved. As an audiobook, it drags sometimes. Gordon-Reed's careful analyses do not always make for a sense of forward-driving plot, yet they ultimately reward with insights that a less thorough scholar would have overlooked.

The amount of research and integrity not to embellish are admirable.
HOWEVER, even though I love scholarly work, I found that this author had to tell us how she arrived at every single decision and interpretation that she made, things that are best kept to endnotes!
I am really shocked that the book was not better edited and that it still won a National Book Award.
This book is badly in need of a new edition. It is hard to bear the banality of the writing on such a fascinating and important subject!
Finally, the reader sounded like a nice lady reading to her third-grade class. A little soul would be welcome!