Length14h 13m
About this audiobook
In The Quest of the Silver Fleece there is little, I ween, divine or ingenious; but, at least, I have been honest. In no fact or picture have I consciously set down aught the counterpart of which I have not seen or known; and whatever the finished picture may lack of completeness, this lack is due now to the story-teller, now to the artist, but never to the herald of the Truth.
—Author’s Note from The Quest of the Silver Fleece
W. E. B. Du Bois considered his first novel, The Quest of the Silver Fleece, to be an “economic study” of the post-Reconstruction relationship between the North and the South, but this first foray into fiction proves itself to be much more than that. Filled with literary realism, social commentary, and romance, Silver Fleece chronicles the love story between Zora, a free-spirited Black girl from a Southern swamp, and Bles, a Black man educated in the North. The couple must find a way to unite and overcome the racist Alabama town in which they live and, through working with the titular silver fleece (cotton), create an economic community that would help the rural Black community become self-sufficient.
Controversial and provocative at the time of its publication, Du Bois’s debut novel is a cutting and thorough examination, and condemnation, of America’s views on race both at the time of the novel’s publication and the time in which it is set. As a sociologist and civil-rights leader, Du Bois was uniquely positioned to bring the themes of racism, prejudice, and racial equality found in The Souls of Black Folk, which he had published just before Silver Fleece, to a larger audience that had not read his nonfiction titles.
The Quest of the Silver Fleece is a rousing and beautiful work of fiction from one of America’s most important intellects, and it continues to inspire conversation and debate around systemic racism in America today.
Audiobook details
Rating★★★★ 4.2 (946)
Includes Goodreads, LibraryThing, StoryGraph, Amazon
GenreGeneral Fiction, Romance
Length14 hrs 13 mins
Narrated byBahni Turpin
FormatAudiobook
Publish dateJul 11, 2023
LanguageEnglish
More from W. E. B. Du Bois
WhistlerAnn Patchett10h 45m4.6 (4.6K)$29 · $0.00
Demon CopperheadBarbara Kingsolver21h 3m4.5 (949.4K)$46 · $0.00
To Kill a MockingbirdHarper Lee12h 18m4.5 (7.4M)$29 · $0.00
Remarkably Bright CreaturesShelby Van Pelt11h 17m4.4 (1.7M)$29 · $0.00
War LordBernard Cornwell13h 21m4.6 (33.1K)$33 · $0.00
The Great Gatsby: Original 1925 Edition (An F. Scott Fitzgerald Classic NovelFrancis Scott Fitzgerald4h 45m4.6 (9.3K)$18 · $0.00
Something Like LoveBeverly Jenkins10h 21m4.6 (2.7K)$29 · $0.00
Black History CollectionFrederick Douglass, Harriet Ann Jacobs, Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois27h 9m4.6 (2.6K)$18 · $0.00
The Old Man and the Sea (Annotated)Ernest Hemingway4h 27m4.6 (1.4K)$2 · $0.00
White HotIlona Andrews13h 18m4.5 (136.9K)$5 · $0.00
The Ghost by the Billabong (The Matilda Saga, #5)Jackie French14h 58m4.6 (773)$33 · $0.00
Cast in BloodMichelle Sagara16h 35m4.6 (607)$33 · $0.00
The Captain Blood Trilogy (Annotated)Rafael Sabatini29h 20m4.6 (1K)$3 · $0.00
Ship of the Line (Annotated)Cecil Louis Troughton Smith11h 13m4.6 (1K)$2 · $0.00
The George Orwell CollectionGeorge Orwell24h 46m4.5 (14.4K)$12 · $0.00
Time RegainedMarcel Proust15h 38m4.5 (9.2K)$2 · $0.00
Driving ForceElle James4h 58m4.6 (407)$20 · $0.00
When God Calls the HeartBrian Bird, Michelle Cox3h 24m4.6 (439)$10 · $0.00
Five Little IndiansMichelle Good10h 34m4.5 (64.5K)$29 · $0.00
Lolth's WarriorR. A. Salvatore13h 20m4.6 (2.4K)$33 · $0.00
The Search (Annotated)Grace Livingston Hill7h 29m4.7 (1.1K)$1.99 · $0.00
The ReunionJana Deleon6h 31m4.6 (1.6K)$26 · $0.00
Something Like LoveBeverly Jenkins10h 21m4.6 (2.7K)$29 · $0.00
Wishes from the HeartSophie Mays4h 9m4.7 (344)$15 · $0.00
Blizzard ShowdownShirlee McCoy5h 16m4.6 (1.1K)$12 · $0.00
To Hold and ProtectSandra Owens7h 59m4.6 (1.1K)$8 · $0.00
Arctic WitnessHeather Woodhaven5h 46m4.6 (985)$12 · $0.00
Following the TrailLynette Eason6h 35m4.6 (2.3K)$12 · $0.00
Her Duty Bound DefenderSharee Stover6h 30m4.6 (558)$12 · $0.00
Defending from DangerJodie Bailey5h 46m4.6 (588)$24 · $0.00
White HotIlona Andrews13h 18m4.5 (136.9K)$5 · $0.00
Explosive RevengeMaggie K. Black6h 18m4.6 (545)$12 · $0.00
Her Brand of JusticeB.J. Daniels6h 48m4.6 (1.3K)$12 · $0.00
Search And DetectTerri Reed5h 51m4.6 (706)$24 · $0.00
Driving ForceElle James4h 58m4.6 (407)$20 · $0.00
Danger in the WildernessDarlene L. Turner6h 54m4.7 (299)$12 · $0.00
Yukon JusticeDana Mentink6h 15m4.6 (751)$12 · $0.00
The Rogue WarriorCindy Roland Anderson5h 44m4.6 (409)$17 · $0.00
Trail Of ThreatsJessica R. Patch5h 47m4.6 (425)$24 · $0.00
Ironwood, a Fae Universe SeriesAlessa Thorn26h 57m4.6 (835)$30 · $0.00
You may also like
Manifesta, 20th Anniversary EditionJennifer Baumgardner, Amy Richards10h 18m3.7 (3.1K)$20
I Like Me BetterRobby Weber9h 47m3.8 (2.6K)$28 · $0.00
Year of the WeedsSiddhartha Sarma5h 34m4.4 (330)$8
The ConfessionsJean-Jacques Rousseau30h 1m4.0 (22.7K)$30
Girls Resist!KaeLyn Rich5h 48m4.3 (423)$20
We're Better Than ThisElijah Cummings, James Dale10h 35m4.4 (2.6K)$29 · $0.00
DarkwaterW. E. B. Du Bois9h 1m4.4 (1.8K)$20
Better Than We Found ItFrederick Joseph, Porsche Joseph13h 52m4.4 (357)$23
Memo to the President ElectMadeleine Albright10h 1m3.9 (1.1K)$29 · $0.00
Frederick Douglass: All 3 Memoirs in One VolumeFrederick Douglass44h 9m4.7 (1.2K)$2 · $0.00
Frederick Douglass: All 3 Memoirs in One VolumeFrederick Douglass44h 9m4.7 (1.2K)$2 · $0.00
Lydia of the PinesHonoré Morrow10h 13m$1 · $0.00
Still JimHonoré Morrow8h 55m$2 · $0.00
Samuel the SeekerUpton Sinclair7h 19m3.8 (24)$2.30
The Autobiography of Upton SinclairUpton Sinclair12h 7m4.1 (83)$2 · $0.00
Baptized in PCBsEllen Griffith Spears14h 21m4.1 (34)$25
The Vanishing AmericanZane Grey11h 31m3.8 (556)$21
The Rise of SportFrederic L. Paxson53m$8
Hillary Rodham Clinton: Do All the Good You CanCynthia Levinson5h 32m$24 · $0.00
Justice RisingPatricia Sullivan23h 36m4.4 (215)$30