Twelve Years a Slave

By: Solomon Northup

Narrated by: Louis Gossett Jr.

Length: 7 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

Official Movie Tie-in Audiobook for the Academy Award's Best Picture and Golden Globe's Best Drama winner.

New York Times and USA Today Bestseller.

In this riveting landmark autobiography which reads like a novel, Academy Award and Emmy winner Louis Gossett, Jr., masterfully transports us to 1840s New York, Washington, D.C., and Louisiana to experience the kidnapping and twelve years of bondage of Solomon Northup, a free man of color. Twelve Years a Slave, published in 1853, was an immediate bombshell in the national debate over slavery leading up to the Civil War. It validated Harriett Beecher Stowe’s fictional account of Southern slavery in Uncle Tom’s Cabin, which had become the best-selling American book in history a few years earlier and significantly changed public opinion in favor of abolition. Experience our official movie tie-in audiobook for the award-winning motion picture, directed by Steve McQueen and starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Brad Pitt, Paul Giamatti, Michael Fassbender, and Lupita Nyong'o. This audio edition with an accompanying custom map is based on the research of Dr. Sue Eakin, the nationally recognized authority on Solomon Northup who spent a lifetime authenticating his story.

Hard working Solomon Northup, an educated free man of color in 1841, enjoys family life with his wife and three children in Saratoga, New York. He delights his community with his fiddle playing and antic spirit, and has positive expectations of all he meets. When he is deceived by “circus promoters” to accompany them to a musical gig in the nation’s capital, his joyful life takes an unimaginable turn. He awakens in shackles to find he has been drugged, kidnapped and bound for the slave block in D.C.

After Solomon is shipped 1,000 miles to New Orleans, he is assigned his slave name and quickly learns that the mere utterance of his true origin or rights as a freeman are certain to bring severe punishment or death. While he endures the brutal life of a slave in Louisiana’s isolated Bayou Boeuf plantation country, he must learn how to play the system and plot his escape home.

For 12 years, his fine mind captures the reality of slavery in stunning detail, as we learn about the characters that populate plantation society and the intrigues of the bayou – from the collapse of a slave rebellion resulting in mass hangings due to traitorous slave Lew Cheney, to the tragic abuse of his friend Patsey because of Mrs. Epps’ jealousy of her husband’s sexual exploitation of his pretty young slave.

When Solomon finally finds a sympathizing friend who risks his life to secret a letter to the North, a courageous rescue attempt ensues that could either compound Solomon’s suffering, or get him back to the arms of his family.

AUTHENTICATION: Northup’s harrowing first-hand account was authenticated from decades of research by Dr. Sue Eakin, who rediscovered the original narrative as a 12-year old in 1931 and made it her life’s work.

For additional audio clips, background info and images, see our website at www.12YearsASlaveBook.com.

Download your unique free map based on Solomon's narrative.

©2013 Eakin Films & Publishing (P)2013 Eakin Films & Publishing

Critic reviews

“...Gossett infuses the words with a quiet, seething power." ( AudioFile, 2013)

“I can never read his account of his days in slavery, of his independence of spirit, of his determination to be free…without believing that it would make a difference in today's world if our contemporaries knew of such a man as Solomon Northup." (Dr. John Hope Franklin, past president of the American Historical Association, best-selling author, recipient of Presidential Medal of Freedom, nation's highest civilian honor)

"[T]he extraordinary narrative of Solomon Northup is the most remarkable book that was ever issued from the American press." ( Detroit Tribune, original 1853 review) "Its truth is far greater than fiction." (Frederick Douglass, famous writer, former slave and abolitionist) "It will be read extensively, both at the North and the South." ( New York Tribune, 1853, published by Horace Greeley)

Even better than the movie

Louis Gossett Jr. does a great job of bringing this story to life. I bought the Kindle version as well which has footnotes that explain many details. But I found the Audible version so compelling that I had to hear it all first. If you enjoyed the movie, I guarantee that you'll love this even more. It's both horrifying and inspiring.

So hard to listen to because it is so true.

It is difficult to listen to what any human being or race or ideology of mankind can do to another or race or a different ideology. It happens throughout all of history but it doesn't make it any easier to live through or even to go back and listen to. We just pray that we learn from our past so that it is not repeated.

Loved it!!

This story kept me on the edge of my seat from start to finish. I highly recommend this book

wow this is a good read . i listened to it twice

Enjoyed it very much. Great choice for the Narrator . will pass this on. ty

unbelievable

I've been listening to non fiction during my commutes and this book was amazing listening to. Never have I cried so much during my drives.

Gripping, scary, ultimately satisfying

A compelling story well told. It was obviously significantly edited by the author's collaborator but it reads painfully true. This version includes the post escape details added by researchers that complete the tale. HIGHLY recommended

WOW

I just finished this book and really enjoyed it. The story was fascinating. I was left pondering of the injustices made to this man--and many others in his circumstances. My heart is heavy as I think of it and I pray he has finally found peace as he has long since passed on.

Wow. Simply wow!

I was a bit put off by the thesaurus style narrative at first. But the became engrossed by the truly amazing and humbling story. I am glad this book was found and brought back to life. The movie was also very good. Take the time to read this book.

Slavery Made Personal

Louis Gossett Jr. was a perfect choice to narrate this account, and has done a masterful job. As to Solomon Northrop's story, Twelve Years a Slave, I have very mixed emotions. I recognize it for the historic and literary treasure it is, I grieve for what this patient, gentle man had to endure, and my mind boggles at the mental disconnect between the learned and extremely well-written account, and the soul-crushing degradations experienced by that same writer. It took my academic knowledge of slavery in America and made it very personal, painful, and shameful, as I had never known it before. It is an extraordinary time capsule, providing an up-close-and-personal look at slavery as no other account has ever captured it.

Better than the movie

as always, the book contains so much more detail than the movie. loved it. cannot believe folks considered it fiction.