• The Known World

  • By: Edward P. Jones
  • Narrated by: Kevin Free
  • Length: 14 hrs and 18 mins
  • 3.8 out of 5 stars (905 ratings)

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The Known World  By  cover art

The Known World

By: Edward P. Jones
Narrated by: Kevin Free
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Publisher's summary

Pulitzer Prize, Fiction, 2004

National Book Critics Circle Award, Fiction, 2004

Henry Townsend, a black farmer, bootmaker, and former slave, has a fondness for Paradise Lost and an unusual mentor, William Robbins, perhaps the most powerful white man in antebellum Virginia's Manchester County. Under Robbins's tutelage, Henry becomes proprietor of his own plantation, as well as of his own slaves. When he dies, his widow Caldonia succumbs to profound grief; and things begin to fall apart: slaves take to escaping under the cover of night, and families who had once found love beneath the weight of slavery begin to betray one another. Beyond the Townsend estate, the known world also unravels: low-paid white patrollers stand watch as slave "speculators" sell free black people into slavery; and rumor of slave rebellions set white families against slaves who have served them for years.

An ambitious, luminously written novel that ranges seamlessly between the past and future and back again to the present, The Known World weaves together the lives of freed and enslaved blacks, whites, and Indians, and allows all of us a deeper understanding of the enduring multidimensional world created by the institution of slavery.

©2003 Edward P. Jones (P)2003 HarperCollins Publishers

Critic reviews

IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, 2005

"A masterpiece that deserves a place in the American literary canon." (Time)

"This remarkable novel, winner of the PEN/Hemingway Award and short-listed for the National Book Award, deserves all the acclaim it has won and then some, especially in this flawless rendition.... Kevin Free's narration is so accomplished that when a woman character speaks, you utterly forget that she does it through a man's voice. He gives each character color, personality, and heft, without ever vamping or straining for effect. The novel bears comparison with Trollope and Faulkner, and Kevin Free's performance of it is in the same league." (AudioFile)

"A complex, often startling picture of life in the region....[Jones'] narrative achieves crushing momentum through sheer accumulation of detail, unusual historical insight, and generous character writing." (Publishers Weekly)

"Jones has written a book of tremendous moral intricacy." (The New Yorker)

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What listeners say about The Known World

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

The Know World

This is a unique story written in a unique way. The author weaves a very mesmorizing story with unforgettable characters in an historic tale I was enthralled with!

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Great listening and great history

Loved the evolution of the characters and the resolution. A different lesson about slavery.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Rewarding read

Takes a difficult topic and makes it possible to experience because it’s told from the depths with warmth.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

How black people treat black people.

I liked the author's insertions of everyday humor. It provided balance often onerous treatments humans toward other people.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Incredible

Such a wonderful surprise. The depth of the characters is a plus. This book is history and fiction. The Known World joins my list of best read. I cried, laughed, and rejoiced.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Required reading

I love how the author gave us a point of view from the lives of all of the characters. One could relate to the each one from the slave owners to the slaves themselves. The characters were 3 dimensional and this should be a required book to read for teenagers and adults!

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Good for historians

Although I am interested in Southern and African American history and think that this is a good book, for some reason it didn’t speak to me as much as some other works. I found the reader’s attempts at dialect, especially in women’s voices, almost mocking, although I know that wasn’t intended.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Good but it takes a while to know who is who

II really hard a hard time understanding all of the people in the book. Often I got confused and list the stories thread. I'm glad I stuck with it. It was a good read doing SIO.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Please purchase and read this book

Please tell you loved ones and friends to purchase and read this book. I hope you do

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant Book

Majestic, tragic, intensely moving. The best novel dealing with slavery I’ve read. Don’t be put off by the idiosyncratic focus of black people owning slaves. It complicates and heightens the evil inherent....

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