Returning to the city that inspired his first prizewinning book, Lost in the City, Jones has filled this new collection with people who call Washington, D.C. home. Yet it's not the city's movers and shakers that most concern him but rather its ordinary citizens. All Aunt Hagar's Children turns an unflinching eye to the men, women and children caught between the old ways of the South and the temptations that await them in the city, people who in Jones's masterful hands, emerge as fully human and morally complex.
Peter Francis James's melodious baritone is beautifully suited to this fine collection of short stories by Edward P. Jones, who won a Pulitzer Prize for his earlier novel, THE KNOWN WORLD. The stories are predominantly about Southerners moving North to Washington, D.C., in the early and mid-twentieth century; although set relatively recently, they are replete with passages that seem as if they should begin "once upon a time." Accordingly, James speaks with a warmth and rhythm that invite listeners to settle back and listen. His pacing, particularly his use of telling pauses, is adept. And he shades characters with just enough personality to color the already-vivid scenes. A.C.S. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine
About the Author
Edward P. Jones was born and raised in Washington, D.C. His first book, Lost in the City was shortlisted for the National Book Award. Jones was a National Book Award finalist for a second time with his debut novel, The Known World, which subsequently won the prestigious 2004 Pulitzer Prize for fiction.
