The masterful, Pulitzer Prize-winning literary epic about the painful and complex realities of slave life on a Southern plantation. An utterly original exploration of race, trust and the cruel truths of human nature, this is a landmark in modern American literature.


Henry Townsend, previously enslaved and now a farmer and bootmaker, is one of the few Black masters in the South. Mentored by William Robbins, one of the most powerful men in Manchester County, Virginia, Townsend has built his plantation with ambition and discipline, while grappling with his place in a society defined by racial oppression.


When Townsend dies unexpectedly, the established order falls into disarray. As disruption reverberates throughout the community, a series of events uncovers an intricate web of relationships, power imbalances and betrayals.


An astonishing literary epic exploring race, trust and the cruel truths of human nature, Edward P. Jones ’ Pulitzer Prize winning novel The Known World is a landmark in modern American literature