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The Underground Railroad
- Narrated by: Bahni Turpin
- Length: 10 hrs and 43 mins
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The Underground Railroad
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Publisher's Summary
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, 2017
National Book Award Winner 2016
Amazon.Com Number One Book of the Year 2016
Number One New York Times Best Seller
Cora is a slave on a cotton plantation in Georgia. All the slaves lead a hellish existence, but Cora has it worse than most; she is an outcast even among her fellow Africans, and she is approaching womanhood, where it is clear even greater pain awaits. When Caesar, a slave recently arrived from Virginia, tells her about the Underground Railroad, they take the perilous decision to escape to the North.
In Whitehead's razor-sharp imagining of the antebellum South, the Underground Railroad has assumed a physical form: a dilapidated boxcar pulled along subterranean tracks by a steam locomotive, picking up fugitives wherever it can. Cora and Caesar's first stop is South Carolina, in a city that initially seems like a haven. But its placid surface masks an infernal scheme designed for its unknowing black inhabitants. And even worse: Ridgeway, the relentless slave catcher sent to find Cora, is close on their heels. Forced to flee again, Cora embarks on a harrowing flight, state by state, seeking true freedom. At each stop on her journey, Cora encounters a different world.
As Whitehead brilliantly recreates the unique terrors for black people in the pre-Civil War era, his narrative seamlessly weaves the saga of America, from the brutal importation of Africans to the unfulfilled promises of the present day. The Underground Railroad is at once the story of one woman's ferocious will to escape the horrors of bondage and a shatteringly powerful meditation on history.
2016, National Book Awards, Winner
2017, Books Are My Bag Readers Awards novel category, Winner
2017, Arthur C. Clarke Award, Short-listed
2017, Goldsboro Books Glass Bell Award, Long-listed
2018, International Dublin Literary Award, Nominated
2017, Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence, Short-listed
2017, The Man Booker Prize, Long-listed
2017, Pulitzer Price for Fiction, Winner
Critic Reviews
What listeners say about The Underground Railroad
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 02-08-2022
Wow. Could not stop listening.
What a story. I could not stop listening, I ate it all up in a few sessions. Touched my head and my heart. Hard to sit through at times - a violent and intense listening experience and journey. Beautifully narrated aswell. Thank you.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Peta Kirby
- 14-06-2020
the underground railroad
this story is base, what a dreadful period in history to be alive couldn't finish it
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- N. L. Roberts
- 24-04-2021
Excellent!
Initially wasn’t keen to listen to this book as thought it would be too harrowing. I’m really glad that I did as loved it and could not stop listening to find out what happens to the brave Cora and the people she encounters on her journey. It’s fast paced, beautifully written and superbly read in the mesmerising voice of the narrator who made me feel completely absorbed in the story.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Rachel
- 29-06-2018
exceptional!
No one is truly free untill we all are...
A must read to even slightly understand the history of colour.
Colson you're an angel
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 12-03-2022
powerful story
very well told story and actually an insight into the core of American society
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Rachel D
- 25-05-2021
Exceptional
The narrator gave an incredible performance to the story. In parts very disturbing, but overall captured a time in history that needed to be written as it was.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Sheena
- 03-05-2020
Slice of African American & American History
Fascinating story of the Underground Railroad which assisted slaves to escape told through the eyes of Cora, a young woman born into slavery in Georgia. Wide range of characters, Black & White, strong & weak, sketch the lives of slaves on plantations, the experimentation with uplift in South Carolina, the tyranny of the night riders , and fear throughout. A must read for background to race relations in the US today. Beautifully performed by Bahni Turpin. Thank you.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Kate Louise Webster
- 27-06-2017
Audio adds an extra dimension
Loved it! So glad I got this book. Cora's journey is heart breaking and terrifying but she is a fighter and you can stop listening until you know what her fate is.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Danny Hatters
- 30-05-2024
Harrowing story of a dark time in history
Was transfixed by the details of the lives of the characters. The story did require intense focus as it was dense in detail and jumped around a lot between characters and times. Overall though a masterful story.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 21-12-2017
Great research from the author
The theme is not one of my favourites but I decided to give it a try given the awards the book got in 2016.
My favourite phrase is on chapter 91- very strong statement and sadly true, and it continues to happen to this day in many parts of the World.
Whilst the story is nothing new to me, it serves as the conductor to show the amazing research that the author had to do to be so specific and detailed, narrating the events and the facts that this book shows about this part of the United States history. Very interesting and confronting. Congratulations to the author for the incredible investigative work.
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4 people found this helpful