Mudbound | 
 enlarge | Author: Hillary Jordan
Publisher: Algonquin Books
Category: Book
List Price: $22.95
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Rating:  36 reviews
Sales Rank: 11182
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Pages: 336
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 8.5 x 6 x 1.2
ISBN: 156512569X
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
EAN: 9781565125698
Publication Date: March 4, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Condition: Brand New, Never Used, Excellent Condition, Pages Clean and Crisp, SHIPS SAME DAY.
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Amazon.com Review
Jordan won the 2006 Bellwether Prize for Mudbound, her first novel. The prize was founded by Barbara Kingsolver to reward books of conscience, social responsibility, and literary merit. In addition to meeting all of the above qualifications, Jordan has written a story filled with characters as real and compelling as anyone we know. It is 1946 in the Mississippi Delta, where Memphis-bred Laura McAllan is struggling to adjust to farm life, rear her daughters with a modicum of manners and gentility, and be the wife her land-loving husband, Henry, wants her to be. It is an uphill battle every day. Things started badly when Henry's trusting nature resulted in the family being done out of a nice house in town, thus relegating them to a shack on their property. In addition, Henry's father, Pappy, a sour, mean-spirited devil of a man, moves in with them. The real heart of the story, however, is the friendship between Jamie, Henry's too-charming brother, and Ronsel Jackson, son of sharecroppers who live on the McAllan farm. They have both returned from the war changed men: Jamie has developed a deep love for alcohol and has recurring nightmares; Ronsel, after fighting valiantly for his country and being seen as a man by the world outside the South, is now back to being just another black "boy." Told in alternating chapters by Laura, Henry, Jamie, Ronsel, and his parents, Florence and Hap, the story unfolds with a chilling inevitability. Jordan's writing and perfect control of the material lift it from being another "ain't-it-awful" tale to a heart-rending story of deep, mindless prejudice and cruelty. This eminently readable and enjoyable story is a worthy recipient of Kingsolver's prize and others as well. --Valerie Ryan
Product Description
In Jordan's prize-winning debut, prejudice takes many forms, both subtle and brutal. It is 1946, and city-bred Laura McAllan is trying to raise her children on her husband's Mississippi Delta farm—a place she finds foreign and frightening. In the midst of the family's struggles, two young men return from the war to work the land. Jamie McAllan, Laura's brother-in-law, is everything her husband is not—charming, handsome, and haunted by his memories of combat. Ronsel Jackson, eldest son of the black sharecroppers who live on the McAllan farm, has come home with the shine of a war hero. But no matter his bravery in defense of his country, he is still considered less than a man in the Jim Crow South. It is the unlikely friendship of these brothers-in-arms that drives this powerful novel to its inexorable conclusion.
The men and women of each family relate their versions of events and we are drawn into their lives as they become players in a tragedy on the grandest scale. As Kingsolver says of Hillary Jordan, "Her characters walked straight out of 1940s Mississippi and into the part of my brain where sympathy and anger and love reside, leaving my heart racing. They are with me still."
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| Customer Reviews: Read 31 more reviews...
 "Violence is part and parcel of country life." August 5, 2008
Luan Gaines (Dana Point, CA USA)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
Two world wars, poverty and racism combine to create tragedy in this powerful story of a Mississippi family living on a farm with no electricity and no running water, heavy rains cutting the farm off from civilization until the raging river abates. It is here that Henry McAllan brings his wife, Laura, a former school teacher from Tennessee, their two daughters and his ancient, angry father, a mean-spirited man who looks at the world through hate-filled eyes. Henry has promised Laura a rent house in town when he buys the farm, but fate conspires to defeat that plan and the city-bred woman must make do with her lot in life at "Mudbound": "This was the truth at the core of my existence; this yawning emptiness, scantily clad in rage." Henry is oblivious to his wife's unhappiness. Landsick, all Henry can think about is his farm and what he hopes to accomplish. But then Henry is not an introspective man, leaving his cantankerous father to harass an already overburdened wife.
When Henry's younger brother, a pilot, returns from World War II, Laura's life markedly improves, Jamie filled with a lightness that seems to make this harsh world more bearable. Even Henry is overjoyed, doting on the brother who has always looked up to him. It is 1949 in Mississippi, Jamie not the only returning soldier. Nearby, Hap and Florence, Henry's share tenants, welcome home their oldest son, Ronsel, one of the decorated black troops that served under General Patton. The bright shine in Ronsel's eyes soon dims in the glare of the white man's criticisms. Racial tensions still thrive in the south, Ronsel quickly cataloging the danger if he remains in this place. Whatever he has come to know of the world has no value in this town, where blacks are little more than irritants to the superior whites.
In alternating chapters, Laura, Henry and Jamie speak of their experiences at Mudbound, their personal histories, the shattered hopes and disappointments life has dealt them, the endless battle with the sucking mud that smothers everything and everyone. In other chapters, Florence, Hap and Ronsel tell another story, a loving family who bear their troubles together, a strong black woman who works the fields when her husband is injured, who worries for an older son who has lost his way in the confines of this limited place. Certainly tragedy is not unexpected in this novel, given social conditions and the ready aggression of men outraged that a returning soldier thinks too highly of himself. A dark drama unfolds, one more act of rage and stupidity, fulfilling a destiny begun long ago. Jordan takes hold of this bitter tale and rides it to the end, each of her characters a study in longing, loss and the evasive remnants of hope that hide in the human heart: "When he is best, he is a little worse than a man; and when he is worst, he is little better than a beast." Luan Gaines/ 2008.
Mudbound people and relationships September 2, 2008
deeper waters (Michigan, USA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Hillary Jordan has written a beautiful and challenging novel about the struggle of individuals and a society to break free of their human and cultural limitations. The literary structure of telling the same story from the perspective of the different characters has become popular to the point of stale but was essential to this story. The Jackson and McAllen families have a great deal in common in terms of prejudices, hopes and fears and though there is growing insight, they are not yet able to step outside of their world view. The theme of "who has a voice and who chooses to use it" is well developed and we see clearly the problems that result when people are afraid to enter into conversation about things that matter.The only person who was not allowed to speak was Pappy ~ the man most representative of the established order was marginalized. The behaviors and beliefs of this era were never acceptable, righteous anger suppressed, and for too long people felt that the the land would never produce anything different. The events of this novel seem to have served the same purpose as the plow ~ churning up the hardened ground for the sowing of next year's crop. Though the ending was somewhat predictable and equivocal, it was consistent in its support of the ongoing interplay of circumstance and choice that each of us faces. This is an impressive debut novel that would be an excellent choice for a book club or for a student discussion.
One of the Best Books I've Read in a Long Time March 4, 2008
R. A. Taylor (FL)
20 out of 27 found this review helpful
Mudbound by Hillary Jordan is without question one of the best books I have read in some time. The story of two families, one white, one black, in the Mississippi Delta immediately after the end of World War 2, tells a story of racism like nothing I have read before. The story is told by various characters in the book giving a clear picture of the time, the people and the unforgiving conditions of farming in the Mississippi Delta. I was raised and have lived most of my life in small towns in the North and have never encountered any of the racism that I know exists, and existed even more prominently during the time covered in this book. It is important, in my opinion, to make this abominable racism public and the author does that, not sugar coating anything in the exchanges between characters.
I found myself so engrossed in this book that it was almost like I wasn't reading, more like watching a play or a movie. The language flowed so beautifully. The characters were true to what they were portrayed as. I look forward to future books from Hillary Jordan.
Brace yourselves May 4, 2008
Susan Fey (Versailles, KY USA)
11 out of 12 found this review helpful
Jordan's imagination has created a character to compete with Iago. Never since "Othello" have I encountered such unmitigated, inexplicable evil in one of the characters -- (I won't give it away). Some of the characters' choices are so disturbing, you question what you would do in a similar situation -- sure to become a topic among reading club participants certain to choose this book. But when you root for the evil character to get his comeuppance, you question how it is that _you_ are very different from him. You start to feel guilty over rejoicing over this getting his just desserts.
This is one of the best books I've read in my life, (in its fifth decade). I won't stop at saying it will stay with me for a long time; I will say that it will stay with me forever.
Susan Dunlap, Versailles, Kentucky
An unforgettable story March 22, 2008
Texas Librarian (Texas)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Mudbound offers a realistic view of a time and a place not understood by many people today. The individual characters in the book all tell stories of truth, and their stories should not be forgotten. From the poor farms to the poor people who struggled to survive, the book brings it all to life. I grew up in the deep South in the 1950s, and I felt like I knew every character in the book. It's not always an easy story to hear, but it shows the strength, the perseverence, and the trials often endured by the people of the time. This was a book that I read almost non-stop - a terrific read.
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