The Hemingses of Monticello

An American Family

By: Annette Gordon-Reed

Narrated by: Karen White

Length: 30 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's summary

Pulitzer Prize, History, 2009

National Book Award, Nonfiction, 2008

This epic work tells the story of the Hemingses, whose close blood ties to our third president had been systematically expunged from American history until very recently. Now, historian and legal scholar Annette Gordon-Reed traces the Hemings family from its origins in Virginia in the 1700s to the family's dispersal after Jefferson's death in 1826.

It brings to life not only Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson but also their children and Hemings's siblings, who shared a father with Jefferson's wife, Martha. The Hemingses of Monticello sets the family's compelling saga against the backdrop of Revolutionary America, Paris on the eve of its own revolution, 1790s Philadelphia, and plantation life at Monticello. Much anticipated, this book promises to be the most important history of an American slave family ever written.

©2008 Annette Gordon-Reed (P)2008 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Fascinating, wise and of the utmost importance.... Gordon-Reed's genius for reading nearly silent records makes this an extraordinary work." ( Publishers Weekly Starred Review)
"This is a masterpiece brimming with decades of dedicated research and dexterous writing." ( Library Journal Starred Review)

The Hemingses or the Jeffersons?

It pains me to not give this book a 5-star review, but then I found the book painful to listen to. I think were I to have read the print version, there may have been family trees and other charts to help navigate this extremely complicated family. I don't blame that lack on Gordon-Reed!

She obviously put a tremendous amount of research into this work. But had she no editor? Was she under orders to make it a door-stopper heavy book? The repetition, constant repetition, was agonizing. Nearly every chapter repeated what was said before. And before that, too. Perhaps the print version is indexed (I should hope it is! There is too much scholarship there to not make it accessible.) So were the repetitions to pad the index? I like history and I like biographies, so I really didn't mind the amount of time spent on Jefferson, himself, but so much of that did not reflect on the Hemingses. Was the book intended as an apology (justification in writing for a cause or doctrine) for Jefferson's convoluted and wrong-headed thinking about slavery and freedom?

If the book is intended for a university classroom, and since few students ever really read their texts, then perhaps the repetition is justified. Sadly, this reader will never choose to purchase another of Gordon-Reed's efforts.

BTW audible.com: Non-fiction works are not "stories." It is the "writing" that I wish to assign 2-stars.

Good but too long

THis was recommended as one of the top books for 2008 and I knew it was long but I have been driving a lot so I tried it. Really excellent story about Jefferson but moreso about the extended Hemings clan. I have read the book a while ago about Sally Hemings but this really fleshed out the entire clan and their history. I really enjoyed reading about their time in Paris and the possibility that Sally could be freed there. In the end, just too long and now if I see an audio book I might be interested in I compare its length to this one and if it is about as long I have to say no. Maybe in an abridged version it would be better.

Groundbreaking

Annette Gordon-Reed is a genius! She digs so deeply with searching questions until you feel like she has found a hidden historical treasure. Using history, human nature, and common sense as her guides, she crafts a riveting look at slavery in Early America, and at the human condition itself. The book’s strongest point was its handling of the relationship of Jefferson and Sally Hemings. The arguments she makes in that section were so profound I kept backing my audiobook up to see if I caught it all. This book shows how important the history of individual enslaved people and families is to putting the humanity back into those who lived so long ago, and those whom we always imagine as leading a stereotypical life of mere drudgery. I noticed a few reviews which said that the book was too long- I didn’t feel that way. I couldn’t get enough. I soaked up every detail and would’ve sat there twice as long. In fact, I felt that the ending was a little abrupt. I wanted to hear much more about what became of the family. Maybe this paves the way for a “Hemingses After Monticello” Book?

Too Long

I'm having trouble getting through all 30+ hours of this book. I would have enjoyed this much more if it was abridged. There are too many qualifiers in the sentences. Just tell the story.

White Americans need to know this information.

So expertly researched. Grateful to have experienced this book. Thomas Jefferson was a white supremist through and through.

How history should be told

I really enjoyed this and I’ve been wanting to dive into this book, since I hearts about it on NPR. It may be long winded for some but I believe the details are what separate history from speculation.
I admit I didn’t know much Jefferson and his personal life. I always revered him as one of the Founding Fathers and a great president. Learning about his relationship with the Hemingses, has brought him to life; not just as a figure in American history but how unfortunate life was and how going along with the social norms can make you against the ideas that you “should” hold close to your heart.
Fascinating read, especially if you are a history buff

Worried at first

For the first 30 minutes or so I was pretty worried that this was going to be very dry and disappointing. After getting into it, however, I found that it was extremely informative. Rather than just providing sterile facts, it really goes into the laws and history and helps the listener understand what contributed to creating the environment that the Hemingses lived in. I would highly recommend this book.

Great Historical Value

This book provides great historical value of not only the lives of Jefferson and the Hemingses; but also of the values of the time. It provides insight into the thoughts of the era. I found it fascinating. We should become educated of the thoughts and customs of the times as provided in this book before we judge the actions of our historical leaders.

A Real Encyclopedia of the Enslaved

The author has done tremendous research and opened my eyes to the real slave world of plantation owners and Thomas Jefferson. The concepts of slavery and the use of slave women to procreate more slaves and half brothers and sisters to the owners families is mind bending. Sally Hemings is led to a choice of freedom in Europe or enslavement in Monticello. Jefferson is fortunate that she chose to remain with him.

Jefferson, a man of letters and distinguished American, cannot see that slavery makes the Declaration of Independence, a hypocritical document.

Although the author goes off in many tangents from the principle story and bogs it down, it remains a tremendous piece of literature on the enslaved.

Exhaustively detailed study of the enslaved people of Thomas Jefferson and the ways their lives were intertwined with his

I liked this book. The subjects were fascinating (several generations of the Hemings family, Thomas Jefferson, slavery in 18th century Virginia). The author completely unmasked Jefferson’s hypocrisy while also providing the detailed sociological, cultural and political context of his time to help the reader understand Jefferson’s life choices in a neutral and almost scientific way. The book is a thorough study of how white supremacy and slavery affected people of all races at this time and place; the author breaks through stereotypes and misconceptions of slavery many of 21st century readers have grown up believing. The tone of the book is understandably academic given the depth of Gordon-Reed’s exploration of complex topics. This did make the book drag a bit as did the author’s habit of digressing often into tangential storylines and complicated family trees of people only indirectly connected to the main characters. Still, I recommend the book to anyone who wants to know what REALLY happened at Monticello (and in Paris) and who Jefferson REALLY was, neither of which can happen without knowing the stories of the Hemings family members which were so profoundly intertwined with his.