description: In one of the most acclaimed novels in recent memory, two-time National Book Award Finalist Edward P. Jones introduces us to Henry Townsend, a black farmer, boot maker and former slave who comes under the tutelage of William Robbins, the most powerful man in Jones's fictitious Manchester County, Virginia. Making certain he never circumvents the law, Townsend runs his affairs with unusual discipline. But his widow, Caledonia, can't uphold the order he has imposed on his estate and it begins to fall apart shortly after his death. 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 low-paid white patrollers stand watch as slave ' speculators' sell free black people into slavery, and rumors of slave rebellions set white families against slaves who have served them for years.
language: English
title: The Known World
titlecomplete: The Known World
genres: Fiction, African American, Book Club, Race, Historical, American, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, Literature, Novels
ratings_count: 40936
places: The United States of America
awards: awardedAt: 1072944000000
name: Pulitzer Prize
category: Fiction, awardedAt: 1072944000000
name: Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, awardedAt: 1041408000000
name: National Book Critics Circle Award
category: Fiction, awardedAt: 1072944000000
name: Hurston/Wright Legacy Award
category: Debut Fiction, awardedAt: 1041408000000
name: National Book Award Finalist
category: Fiction, awardedAt: 1104566400000
name: Dublin Literary Award
publisher: Amistad