He was her death and she had loved him for it.

Airicka Phoenix lives in a world where unicorns, fairies and mermaids run amok through her home on a daily basis. When she’s not chasing after pixies and rounding up imps, also known as her four children, she can be found conjuring imaginary friends to play with. Airicka is the prolific author of over eighteen novels for those who crave strong, female leads, sexy alpha heroes and out of control desires. She’s a multi genre author who writes young adult, new adult and adult contemporary and paranormal romance.
For more about Airicka and the realm she rules with an iron fist–and tons of chocolate–visit her at: www.AirickaPhoenix.com
This week takes us to Virginia with The Known World by Edward P. Jones. Entertainment Weekly says – This award-winning examination of man’s ownership of man refuses to succumb to the calcifying effect of history, presenting Virginia’s past as raw, urgent and human.
Synopsis from Goodreads – One of the most acclaimed novels in recent memory, The Known World is a daring and ambitious work by Pulitzer Prize winner Edward P. Jones.
The Known World tells the story of Henry Townsend, a black farmer and former slave who falls under the tutelage of William Robbins, the most powerful man in Manchester County, Virginia. Making certain he never circumvents the law, Townsend runs his affairs with unusual discipline. But when death takes him unexpectedly, his widow, Caldonia, can’t uphold the estate’s order, and chaos ensues. Jones has woven a footnote of history into an epic that takes an unflinching look at slavery in all its moral complexities.
Review by Laura @ http://125Pages.com
½ Star
The Known World by Edward P. Jones is a read that made me question. It made me question if editors actually read the whole book. It made me question if the Pulitzer judges read the whole book. It made me question if I had picked up the wrong book, because this could not be the book with all of those rave reviews. This novel won a National Book Critics Circle Award and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2004. In 2005 it won the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award and it was a finalist for the 2003 National Book Award. In 2009, the website The Millions polled 48 critics, writers, and editors; the panel voted The Known World the second best novel since 2000. The book I read was a disjointed mess. No seriously, I can read difficult books. I like non-linear time lines and twisty prose but this took it to a whole new level. The synopsis tells us that this is the tale of Manchester County in Virginia during the antebellum era and a black former slave who is now a slave owner himself. This sounds like a deep and thought provoking read right? It would have been if it was actually readable.
There were approximately 80 characters, so I had no idea who anyone was.
The white man at the front door was from the Atlas Life, Casualty and Assurance Company, based in Hartford, Connecticut. His talking to Calvin at the door was what kept Bennett so long. Calvin eventually came back with Bennett and when Moses told him, Calvin went back and returned with Caldonia, followed by Maude, and Fern Elston.
The time line skipped back and forth often times decades in the future to tell what happened to just one person or object and then skipped back.
This series was Anderson’s most successful, and nothing was more successful within that series than the 1883 pamphlet on free Negroes who had owned other Negroes before the War between the States. The pamphlet on slaveowning Negroes went through ten printings. Only seven of those particular pamphlets survived until the late twentieth century. Five of them were in the Library of Congress in 1994 when the remaining two pamphlets were sold as part of a collection of black memorabilia owned by a black man in Cleveland, Ohio. That collection, upon the man’s death in 1994, sold for $1.7 million to an automobile manufacturer in Germany.
There was so much unnecessary description.
Clarence sat beside his wife and after a time he put a hand, the one not stained with milk, to the back of his wife’s head and rubbed her hair. The cow swung its tail and chewed its cud. It farted.
His horse, Sir Guilderham, was idling two or so paces behind his master. And just as the horse began to wander away, Robbins turned and picked up the reins, mounted. ‘No more visits for a month,’ he said, picking one piece of lint from the horse’s ear.
Seriously, I do not care about lint on a horse and a cow farting. This really detracted from the story for me. The Known World by Edward P. Jones could have and should have been a powerful read. Instead I got bogged down in the minutia and was not able to process the tale.
I had originally picked this up at the library and then, when I found the style to be so odd, I got the Audible version. I really want my credit and the 14 hours I spent listing to this back.
As you might have noticed I have not been doing any real reading lately, but when Ms. Libby Cole’s new book came out, Open Home, Closed Heart, I had to read it. I previously read Ms Cole’s three other books int the Hawaiian Heartbreak Book Series. Those reviews can be found here.
But onto my review of Open Home, Closed Heart by Libby Cole.
This is book four of the Hawaiian Series but it can really be read as a stand alone. This story involves Tess, a successful real estate agent, and her relationship with new co-worker, Damien.
Needless to say, Tess and Damien’s work relationship doesn’t start off very well as Damien is determined to be top dog at the real estate agency and he’s not letting ANYONE get in his way.
Tess is forced by her boss to help Damien acclimate into the real estate agency and needless to say Tess is not pleased, but not wanting to anger her boss, Tess is forced to go along with the idea. The relationship between Tess and Damien starts off as ice cold and turns into red hot!
Is Damien just using Tess to get ahead in his career? Is Tess willing to take her sister’s advice and cut off the relationship before she gets hurt? Or, will Tess get her happily ever after? You will have to read the book.
I give this book four out of four “cupcakes”. See rating system here.
Side note: Kayla from the Hawaiian series does make small appearances in this book.
I received this book complimentary in exchange for an honest review and constructive feedback.