The Known World,
by Edward P. Jones
Jones was awarded the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for fiction for this book and
it is a wonderfully rich read. He writes about a little-known phenomenon in
American history - free black persons who owned slaves before the Civil War.
This is a densely-woven tale involving the lives of free blacks, slaves and
whites who live in Virginia. Central to the story is Augustus Townsend who is
free and an exceptional woodworker. Each character is affected by the peculiar
institution of slavery and they all are vibrantly created by Jones. It is highly
recommended!
-Roy
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