The Known World by Edward P. Jones

This novel won the Pulitzer in 2004 and the National Book Critics Circle Award in 2003, so I had to read it.  It was like a homework assignment from the literary world. 

The novel is set in antebellum Virginia.  The protagonist is a free black man who is also a slave owner–and the novel studies all of the themes one is used to reading in a book about slavery, but delves further into questions of human rights, religion, morality, love, freedom, gender relations, Virginia’s history . . . Jones pokes every wound. 

Jones could give a number of publishing historians some important lessons in research, style, and drawing connections between events.  He dances elegantly between Virginia’s history; the invented history of his invented county of the novel; and the past, present, and future of his characters.  It’s a tough read, but it’s rewarding throughout.  Every bit of cruelty is paired with some hope, and the prose itself is lovely. 

Trackback URI | Comments RSS