Mudbound


Unabridged Audiobook

Ratings
Book
39
Narrator
10
Release Date
October 2008
Duration
9 hours 19 minutes
Summary
The International Bestseller

Now a major motion picture from Netflix, directed by Dee Rees, nominated in four categories for the Academy Awards.

In Jordan's prize-winning debut, prejudice takes many forms, both subtle and brutal. It is 1946, and city-bred Laura McAllan is trying to raise her children on her husband's Mississippi Delta farm—a place she finds foreign and frightening. In the midst of the family's struggles, two young men return from the war to work the land. Jamie McAllan, Laura's brother-in-law, is everything her husband is not—charming, handsome, and haunted by his memories of combat. Ronsel Jackson, eldest son of the black sharecroppers who live on the McAllan farm, has come home with the shine of a war hero. But no matter his bravery in defense of his country, he is still considered less than a man in the Jim Crow South. It is the unlikely friendship of these brothers-in-arms that drives this powerful novel to its inexorable conclusion.

The men and women of each family relate their versions of events and we are drawn into their lives as they become players in a tragedy on the grandest scale.

As Barbara Kingsolver says of Hillary Jordan, 'Her characters walked straight out of 1940s Mississippi and into the part of my brain where sympathy and anger and love reside, leaving my heart racing. They are with me still.'

'A compelling family tragedy, a confluence of romantic attraction and racial hatred that eventually falls like an avalanche … An engaging story.'—The Washington Post
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Reviews
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Teresa B.

Hillary Jordan's novel, told in six voices from two families. One the white landlord's, the other the black tenant farmer's. The viscousness of southern racism and hatred is powerfully depicted in this heartbreaking story. It is one of the most compelling tales of southern insanity I have read, and left me deeply moved. Set in a moment in the not so distant past where the only people with power are white men, everyone else must bend to their will. I felt impatient for Laura to lash out at Pappy, and when she doesn't have to feel the oppression she is subject to. I felt the despair of Florence who hasn't the power to protect her family, and when the time comes is denied her rightful vengeance. The KKK brand of bible twisting cruelty is horrifyingly drawn; Jordan renders this hatred personal, infuriating, allowing the reader to feel the powerlessness of those most in need of compassion and care, those most worthy of honor. I couldn't put it down. I look forward to the sequel I read rumors of in the reviews and will definitely look for more of Jordan's work. Only one thing tripped me up. Ronsel is a smart man; I had a hard time believing he'd so quickly lose track of the letter that has changed his life. The only thing that tripped me. Highly recommend!

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Rebecca Brock

A very well written story but very sad. Now I need to read a comedy!

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Carol M.

Excellent narration of a wonderful novel. Hillary Jordon really takes the reader back In time to rural Mississippi when life was difficult for some and seemingly impossible for others.

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MimiKS

Heavy topic but so interesting to read about the past and great narration. It keep me wanting to listen. I highly recommend.

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Anonymous

diffucult topics but important.

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Amy C

Incredibly well written and interesting story - made me want to read more fiction about race relations

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Suzanne M.

An accurate book I am sure from the time it was to have been. So sad and how people were treated back then and in some place of the world they still are. Very enjoyable and horrifying but realistic I would recommend this

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