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Published Apr 2016
320 pages
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publication Information
The story of Jonah Williams, who on his eighteenth birthday flees the South Carolina plantation on which he was born a slave
In his latest historical novel, bestselling author Robert Morgan brings to full and vivid life the story of Jonah Williams, who, in 1850, on his eighteenth birthday, flees the South Carolina plantation on which he was born a slave. He takes with him only a few stolen coins, a knife, and the clothes on his back--no shoes, no map, no clear idea of where to head, except north, following a star that he prays will be his guide.
Hiding during the day and running through the night, Jonah must elude the men sent to capture him and the bounty hunters out to claim the reward on his head. There is one person, however, who, once on his trail, never lets him fully out of sight: Angel, herself a slave, yet with a remarkably free spirit.
In Jonah, she sees her own way to freedom, and so sets out to follow him.
Bristling with breathtaking adventure, Chasing the North Star is deftly grounded in historical fact yet always gripping and poignant as the story follows Jonah and Angel through the close calls and narrow escapes of a fearsome world. It is a celebration of the power of the human spirit to persevere in the face of great adversity. And it is Robert Morgan at his considerable best.
"Starred Review. Morgan…presents the reader with a convincing and richly imagined experience." - Booklist
"Morgan's latest is a grittily entertaining, smartly paced narrative about a fugitive slave. Morgan is a first-rate storyteller; he plots his novel extremely well, and readers will find this journey captivating." - Publishers Weekly
"A powerful, gripping, and unrelenting tale of wilderness survival under the most dire of circumstances in the pursuit of freedom: another outstanding work of historical fiction from Morgan." - Kirkus Reviews
"Chasing the North Star is an epic journey, and Morgan's vision of our dark past shines brilliantly detailed, deeply satisfying, and ultimately hopeful." - Charles Frazier, author of Nightwoods and Cold Mountain
"Chasing the North Star has the gravity of the old slave narratives, and the blood-chilling action of a contemporary action thriller. The language reflects Morgan's deep connection to the land and the tradition ... Jonah Williams is a hero for the ages. Reading of his courage and humanity puts starch in your spine. A must read." - Randal Kenan, author of Walking on Water
This information about Chasing the North Star was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Robert Morgan was raised on his family's farm in the North Carolina mountains. He is the author of eleven books of poetry, three books of nonfiction, and eight books of fiction, including the bestselling novel Gap Creek. He lives in Ithaca, New York, where he teaches at Cornell University. He won the Academy of Arts and Letters Award for Literature in 2007.
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