Play Audiobook Sample
The American Daughters: A Novel Audiobook
Play Audiobook Sample
(0.00) - 0 listener ratings
Quick Stats About this Audiobook
Total Audiobook Chapters:
Longest Chapter Length:
Shortest Chapter Length:
Average Chapter Length:
Audiobooks by this Author:
Publisher Description
“An enthralling tale of a secret resistance movement run by Black women in pre-Civil War New Orleans.”—Time
“Stirring . . . In telling this important, neglected history with imagination-fueled research, The American Daughters offers an inspiring story of people who show a way forward with their perseverance, bravery and love.”—The New York Times Book Review (Editors’ Choice)
AN ELECTRIC LIT AND KIRKUS REVIEWS BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
Ady, a curious, sharp-witted girl, and her fierce mother, Sanite, are inseparable. Enslaved to a businessman in the French Quarter of New Orleans, the pair spend their days reminiscing about their family’s rebellious and storied history and dreaming of a loving future. When mother and daughter are separated, Ady is left hopeless and directionless until she stumbles into the Mockingbird Inn and meets Lenore, a free Black woman with whom she becomes fast friends. Lenore invites Ady to join a clandestine society of spies called the Daughters. With the courage instilled in her by Sanite—and with help from these strong women—Ady learns how to put herself first. So begins her journey toward liberation and imagining a new future.
The American Daughters is a novel of hope and triumph that reminds us what is possible when a community bands together to fight for their freedom.
Download and start listening now!
“A high adventure, a revealing history, and a chronicle of one woman’s self-realization…interspersing his narrative with imagined transcripts from the past, present, and even the future. Black women as agents—literally—of their own liberation. Who wouldn’t be inspired?”
— Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
Quotes
-
“A riveting coming-of-age story…captivating and vividly rendered.”
— Atlanta Journal-Constitution -
“Brings a little–known aspect of the Civil War to vivid life.”
— New York Times Book Review -
“Ruffin’s dignified prose and focus on the bonds of women of color…paints a vibrant picture of antebellum New Orleans. Readers won’t be able to resist this stirring story of freedom by any means necessary.”
— Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Awards
-
A New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice of the Week
-
One of Kirkus Reviews’ Best Books of the Year
-
An Electric Literature Pick of 2024's Best Books
The American Daughters Listener Reviews
Be the first to write a review about this audiobook!
About Maurice Carlos Ruffin
Maurice Carlos Ruffin is the acclaimed author of several books, including The Ones Who Don’t Say They Love You, which was longlisted for the Story Prize and was a finalist for the Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence, and We Cast a Shadow, which was a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award, the PEN Open Book Award, and the Dayton Literary Peace Prize and was longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and International Dublin Literary Award. A recipient of an Iowa Review Award in fiction, he has been published in the Virginia Quarterly Review and the Massachusetts Review, and more. He is a graduate of the University of New Orleans Creative Writing Workshop and is a professor of creative writing at Louisiana State University.
About Lynnette Freeman
Lynnette R. Freeman is a voice and stage actress from East Cleveland. She is a graduate of Brown University and earned her MFA in acting from the Brown/Trinity Rep Conservatory. She is the narrator of several audiobooks, including The Family Business 3 by Carl Weber and Treasure Hernandez, I’m Doin’ Me by Anna Black, Becoming Mrs. Right by Sherri L. Lewis, and Wife Extraordinaire by Kiki Swinson.