The Warmth of Other Suns

The Epic Story of America's Great Migration

By: Isabel Wilkerson

Narrated by: Robin Miles

Length: 22 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's summary

In this epic, beautifully written masterwork, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Isabel Wilkerson chronicles one of the great untold stories of American history: the decades-long migration of Black citizens who fled the South for northern and western cities, in search of a better life.

NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD WINNER
LYNTON HISTORY PRIZE WINNER
HEARTLAND AWARD WINNER
DAYTON LITERARY PEACE PRIZE FINALIST

NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY

The New York Times • USA Today • O: The Oprah Magazine • Amazon • Publishers Weekly • Salon • Newsday • The Daily Beast

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY

The New Yorker • The Washington Post • The Economist • Boston Globe • San Francisco Chronicle • Chicago Tribune • Entertainment Weekly • Philadelphia Inquirer • The Guardian • The Seattle Times • St. Louis Post-Dispatch • The Christian Science Monitor

From 1915 to 1970, this exodus of almost six million people changed the face of America. Wilkerson compares this epic migration to the migrations of other peoples in history. She interviewed more than a thousand people, and gained access to new data and official records, to write this definitive and vividly dramatic account of how these American journeys unfolded, altering our cities, our country, and ourselves.

With stunning historical detail, Wilkerson tells this story through the lives of three unique individuals: Ida Mae Gladney, who in 1937 left sharecropping and prejudice in Mississippi for Chicago, where she achieved quiet blue-collar success and, in old age, voted for Barack Obama when he ran for an Illinois Senate seat; sharp and quick-tempered George Starling, who in 1945 fled Florida for Harlem, where he endangered his job fighting for civil rights, saw his family fall, and finally found peace in God; and Robert Foster, who left Louisiana in 1953 to pursue a medical career, the personal physician to Ray Charles as part of a glitteringly successful medical career, which allowed him to purchase a grand home where he often threw exuberant parties.

Wilkerson brilliantly captures their first treacherous and exhausting cross-country trips by car and train and their new lives in colonies that grew into ghettos, as well as how they changed these cities with southern food, faith, and culture and improved them with discipline, drive, and hard work. Both a riveting microcosm and a major assessment, The Warmth of Other Suns is a bold, remarkable, and riveting work, a superb account of an “unrecognized immigration” within our own land. Through the breadth of its narrative, the beauty of the writing, the depth of its research, and the fullness of the people and lives portrayed herein, this book is destined to become a classic.

©2010 Isabel Wilkerson (P)2011 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

“A landmark piece of nonfiction . . . sure to hold many surprises for readers of any race or experience….A mesmerizing book that warrants comparison to The Promised Land, Nicholas Lemann’s study of the Great Migration’s early phase, and Common Ground, J. Anthony Lukas’s great, close-range look at racial strife in Boston….[Wilkerson’s] closeness with, and profound affection for, her subjects reflect her deep immersion in their stories and allow the reader to share that connection.” (Janet Maslin, The New York Times)

“ The Warmth of Other Suns is a brilliant and stirring epic, the first book to cover the full half-century of the Great Migration… Wilkerson combines impressive research…with great narrative and literary power. Ms. Wilkerson does for the Great Migration what John Steinbeck did for the Okies in his fiction masterpiece, The Grapes of Wrath; she humanizes history, giving it emotional and psychological depth.” (John Stauffer, Wall Street Journal)

" The Warmth of Other Suns is epic in its reach and in its structure. Told in a voice that echoes the magic cadences of Toni Morrison or the folk wisdom of Zora Neale Hurston’s collected oral histories, Wilkerson’s book pulls not just the expanse of the migration into focus but its overall impact on politics, literature, music, sports — in the nation and the world." (Lynell George, Los Angeles Times)

Required Reading for All Americans

Even if you think you know the history of America, since the Civil War, or even the economic history of the United States, since the Civil War, this book will enlighten you to the reality, how we have progressed, and failed to progress in the centuries after the war. As I am writing this, Americans are grieving the loss of yet another innocent black man at the hands of police. We clearly have a long way to go towards becoming the nation we purport to be.

A must read

I usually don’t read or listen to historical nonfiction but this was worth every second minute hour. I must read for all Americans

Such a good narration and compelling story

Compelling storytelling that really brings home the true history of the Great Migration. Excellent performance too.

Good history

I liked the historical element of the book; however, the book was repetitive, which made it long. The most challenging thing was being able to hear her swallow. It was quite distracting. I don’t think I’ve ever heard that
In any other audiobook.

A must listen

This has been on my to-read list for too long. I expected a good but somewhat dry historical account. Instead, I came to know Ida Mae, George and Dr. Robert and their stories. Thought provoking, revealing, so heartbreaking at times but yet encouraging at others. Revealing. The reader is excellent and I am glad that I listened to this one.

Impactful

Extremely well written, fantastic narration, and a story and perspective we should all hear and think about.

Immersed

I was totally immersed in this book. As my grandfather and uncle were sharecroppers I could somewhat relate to the story. I myself left the south in 1968 as did many of my peers to try and make a go of it in “The promise land”!

Wish my history books in school had been written this well!

Why didn’t I learn this in school? Wow! What a wonderful, well-written tale of history told through the eyes of people that lived it. So glad that the author captured so many first hand accounts to weave this all together.

Excellent narration too!

Beautifully read and performed!

I loved everything about the book! I love the characters, and I love the way they told the story of the great migration. I’m very happy that I purchased this book.

The depth of the three stories.

I loved all of it! It weaves together so many historical moments in a narrative that helps me truly understand what my ancestors had to go through.