Length9h 28m
About this audiobook
From the author of The Water Dancers and Good Family, an exquisitely crafted novel, set in Ohio in the decades leading to the Civil War, that illuminates the immigrant experience, the injustice of slavery, and the debts human beings owe to one another, witnessed through the endeavors of one Irish-American family.
Cheated out of their family estate in Northern Ireland after the Napoleonic Wars, the Givens family arrives in America in 1819. But in coming to this new land, they have lost nearly everything. Making their way west they settle in Cincinnati, a burgeoning town on the banks of the mighty Ohio River whose rise, like the Givenses’ own, will be fashioned by the colliding forces of Jacksonian populism, religious evangelism, industrial capitalism, and the struggle for emancipation.
After losing their mother in childbirth and their father to a riverboat headed for New Orleans, James, Olivia, and Erasmus Givens must fend for themselves. Ambitious James eventually marries into a prosperous family, builds a successful business, and rises in Cincinnati society. Taken by the spirit and wanderlust, Erasmus becomes an itinerant preacher, finding passion and heartbreak as he seeks God. Independent-minded Olivia, seemingly destined for spinsterhood, enters into a surprising partnership and marriage with Silas Orpheus, a local doctor who spurns social mores.
When her husband suddenly dies from an infection, Olivia travels to his family home in Kentucky, where she meets his estranged brother and encounters the horrors of slavery firsthand. After abetting the escape of one slave, Olivia is forced to confront the status of a young woman named Tilly, another slave owned by Olivia’s brother-in-law. When her attempt to help Tilly ends in disaster, Olivia tracks down Erasmus, who has begun smuggling runaways across the river—the borderline between freedom and slavery.
As the years pass, this family of immigrants initially indifferent to slavery will actively work for its end—performing courageous, often dangerous, occasionally foolhardy acts of moral rectitude that will reverberate through their lives for generations to come.
Audiobook details
Rating★★★★ 3.7 (1.3K)
Includes Goodreads, Amazon, StoryGraph, LibraryThing
GenreGeneral Fiction, Fantasy, Dystopia
Length9 hrs 28 mins
Narrated byCassandra Campbell
FormatAudiobook
Publish dateJan 22, 2019
LanguageEnglish
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
Desperate MeasuresBrenda Jackson8h 59m4.7 (670)$28 · $0.00
This Side of Paradise - The Original 1920 Edition (Annotated)F. Scott Fitzgerald11h 30m4.6 (1.6K)$2 · $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
Demon CopperheadBarbara Kingsolver21h 3m4.5 (949.4K)$46 · $0.00
Remarkably Bright CreaturesShelby Van Pelt11h 17m4.4 (1.7M)$29 · $0.00
Before the Coffee Gets Cold: A Toshikazu Kawaguchi Book SetToshikazu Kawaguchi18h 55m4.5 (1.4K)$40 · $0.00
The Song of AchillesMadeline Miller11h 15m4.3 (2.3M)$29 · $0.00
The Left and the LuckyWilly Vlautin6h 40m4.4 (1.1K)$24 · $0.00
Hunt of the DragonJuliette Cross9h 46m4.4 (736)$20
Deadly GameChristine Feehan13h 20m4.3 (15.8K)$30
THE RETURN OF THE KINGJ.R.R. Tolkien21h 5m4.7 (1.2M)$7 · $0.00
WildfireIlona Andrews12h 45m4.5 (62.9K)$33 · $0.00
Lolth's WarriorR. A. Salvatore13h 20m4.6 (2.4K)$33 · $0.00
The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du BoisHonoree Fanonne Jeffers29h 49m4.5 (58K)$8 · $0.00
Treasure Island (Adventure Classic with Illustrations)Robert Louis Stevenson8h 50m4.5 (11.2K)$1.99 · $0.00
Lola in the MirrorTrent Dalton13h 40m4.5 (43.9K)$33 · $0.00
Going PostalTerry Pratchett13h 36m4.5 (163.8K)$33 · $0.00
The Leo Tolstoy CollectionLeo Tolstoy9h 1m4.5 (4.9K)$12 · $0.00
Sword and ShadowMichelle Sagara16h 51m4.5 (2.2K)$40 · $0.00
A Tree Grows in BrooklynBetty Smith14h 55m4.4 (577.6K)$33 · $0.00
Dark GuardianChristine Feehan12h 32m4.5 (26.3K)$33 · $0.00
The Neil Gaiman ReaderNeil Gaiman27h 3m4.5 (3.2K)$53 · $0.00
The HobbitJ. R. R. Tolkien10h 51m4.4 (4.9M)$12 · $0.00
At the Foot of the Cherry Tree: The bestselling, heart-warming novel based on a true story of forbidden love & heartbreak SHORTLISTED FOR THE DYMOCKS 2023 BOOK OF THE YEARAlli Parker10h 8m4.4 (5.6K)$29 · $0.00
Counting Lost StarsKim van Alkemade13h 55m4.4 (22.7K)$33 · $0.00
The German WifeKelly Rimmer13h 49m4.3 (70.3K)$33 · $0.00
The Tattooist of AuschwitzHeather Morris7h 26m4.3 (1.4M)$24 · $0.00
1984Eric Arthur Blair12h 41m4.3 (6.1M)$1 · $0.00
The Unbreakable Heart of Oliva DenaroViola Ardone8h 57m4.3 (14.7K)$29 · $0.00
The Pearl That Broke Its ShellNadia Hashimi13h 47m4.3 (125.6K)$8 · $0.00
Lord of the SilentElizabeth Peters6h 7m4.3 (14.9K)$24 · $0.00
The Little LiarMitch Albom7h 41m4.3 (122.5K)$26 · $0.00
The Benevolent Society Of Ill-Mannered LadiesAlison Goodman15h 33m4.3 (25.5K)$33 · $0.00
The Flight GirlsNoelle Salazar10h 21m4.3 (49.9K)$29 · $0.00
Scandalous WomenGill Paul10h 46m4.4 (1.5K)$29 · $0.00
Daughters of the OccupationShelly Sanders10h 59m4.3 (5.3K)$29 · $0.00
The Woman in the White KimonoAna Johns11h 55m4.3 (47.1K)$29 · $0.00
The Keeper of Hidden BooksMadeline Martin10h 53m4.3 (42.9K)$29 · $0.00
The Complete Western Stories of Elmore LeonardElmore Leonard6h 49m4.3 (4K)$24 · $0.00
The Home for Unwanted GirlsJoanna Goodman9h 59m4.3 (77.5K)$29 · $0.00
Reminiscences of a Stock OperatorEdwin Lefèvre10h 39m4.3 (50.9K)$29 · $0.00
Notes from UndergroundFyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky4h 37m4.3 (313.6K)$1.20 · $0.00
The Uncharted Flight of Olivia WestSara Ackerman10h 33m4.3 (4K)$29 · $0.00
You may also like
Our Nig; Or, Sketches from the Life of a Free Black, in a Two-story White House, North / Showing That Slavery's Shadows Fall Even ThereHarriet E. Wilson2h 21m3.9 (5.3K)Free
The Family at Red RoofsEnid Blyton7h 2m4.4 (947)$2 · $0.00
Funeral for FlacaEmilly G. Prado5h 36m4.3 (838)$17
Cher: Part OneCher15h 47m4.4 (41.4K)$33 · $0.00
Big LoveBrooke Blurton7h 21m4.3 (943)$24 · $0.00
The Gangster We Are All Looking Forlê thi diem thúy4h 29m3.8 (4.3K)$15
WhistlerAnn Patchett10h 45m4.6 (4.6K)$29 · $0.00
The Girl on the BalconyOlivia Hussey9h 50m4.2 (2K)$20 · $0.00
Agnes GreyAnne Brontë7h 16m3.9 (130K)$4 · $0.00
The Partition ProjectSaadia Faruqi10h 1m4.3 (810)$29 · $0.00
StuffedPatricia Volk7h 50m3.6 (1.8K)$17 · $0.00
Left for DeadEbony Canion5h 34m4.7 (2.2K)$17
The BoysRon Howard, Clint Howard13h 19m4.4 (35.4K)$33 · $0.00
Children of the LandMarcelo Hernandez Castillo10h 6m4.1 (4K)$29 · $0.00
The Book Of NegroesLawrence Hill15h 45m4.5 (107.3K)$33 · $0.00
Miss del RíoBárbara Mujica13h 2m3.8 (1.5K)$33 · $0.00
VéraStacy Schiff18h 14m3.9 (1.4K)$28 · $0.00
Doom GuyJohn Romero17h 5m4.4 (3K)$25
The Brightest StarGail Tsukiyama9h 31m3.5 (1.5K)$29 · $0.00
Brother RayRay Charles, David Ritz13h 23m4.3 (2.3K)$23