Publisher Description
In powerful, vivid verse, the master behind The Watch That Ends the Night recounts one of history’s most harrowing—and chilling—tales of survival.
In 1846, a group of emigrants bound for California face a choice: continue on their planned route or take a shortcut into the wilderness. Eighty-nine of them opt for the untested trail, a decision that plunges them into danger and desperation and, finally, the unthinkable. From extraordinary poet and novelist Allan Wolf comes a riveting retelling of the ill-fated journey of the Donner party across the Sierra Nevadas during the winter of 1846–1847. Brilliantly narrated by multiple voices, including world-weary, taunting, and all-knowing Hunger itself, this novel-in-verse examines a notorious chapter in history from various perspectives, among them caravan leaders George Donner and James Reed, Donner’s scholarly wife, two Miwok Indian guides, the Reed children, a sixteen-year-old orphan, and even a pair of oxen. Comprehensive back matter includes an author’s note, select character biographies, statistics, a time line of events, and more. Unprecedented in its detail and sweep, this haunting epic raises stirring questions about moral ambiguity, hope and resilience, and hunger of all kinds.
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“A tale of colonialism, murder, and cannibalism might seem sensationalized, but this audiobook-in-verse about the ill-fated 1846 journey of Donner party is grounded by multiple perspectives. Leading the cast is Bahni Turpin, whose smooth performance as the omniscient narrator, Hunger, is all the more chilling for its grim, merciless edge. While other individual voices stand out—particularly the deep brogue of Tim Gerard Reynolds as headstrong James Reed—some of the most affecting moments feature multiple voices. Even the oxen speak up during the rhythmic trudge across the Great Salt Lake Desert. As winter takes its grisly toll, Hunger interjects with ever-growing litanies of the dead, underscored by a windswept chant of the word ‘snow.’ Collectively, it’s a grim, gripping, and haunting listen.”
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AudioFile
About the Narrators
Lauren Ezzo, an Earphones Award–winning narrator, is a commercial voice talent and Chicago-based actor and graduate of Hope College. She has acted in Peppermint Creek Theatre Company’s world premiere of Or You Could Kiss Me. Her narrations have placed her on several “Best of the Year” lists, including AudioFile’s Best Audiobooks of the Year list. In 2018, she was part of a full cast of narrators nominated for the prestigious Audie Award for Best Original Work.
Bahni Turpin, winner of numerous AudioFile Earphones Awards and several prestigious Audie Awards for her narrations, was named a “Golden Voice” by AudioFile magazine in 2019. Publishers Weekly magazine named her Narrator of the Year for 2016. She is an ensemble member of the Cornerstone Theater Company in Los Angeles. She has guest starred in many television series, including NYPD Blue, Law & Order, Six Feet Under, Cold Case, What about Brian, and The Comeback. Film credits include Brokedown Palace, Crossroads, and Daughters of the Dust. She is also a member of the recording cast of The Help, which won numerous awards.
Eric G. Dove is a multiple Earphones Award–winning narrator, and his credits include more than one hundred audiobooks. He is also an accomplished musician and a budding author, who published Ghosts of Royston in 2013. He is a graduate of Ohio State University.
Whitney Dykhouse has worked as a stage actress starring as Annie Sullivan in Master Arts Theatre’s production of The Miracle Worker. She is also an audiobook narrator and has read titles by Donna Jo Napoli and Steve Watkins.
Ramón de Ocampo, an Earphones Award-winning narrator, was a cowinner in 2018 of the Audie Award for Best Multi-Voiced Performance. A graduate of the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama, he has been seen on television, film, and stages all over the world, including recurring roles on such television shows as The West Wing, 12 Monkeys, Sons of Anarchy, and Medium. He is the winner of a prestigious Obie Award for his stage work.
Teri Schnaubelt is a Chicago-based stage, on-camera, and voice actor as well as oil painter and photographer. An Earphones Award–winning narrator, she has voiced over a hundred books for New York Times and USA Today bestselling authors, in addition to helping independent authors get their stories heard.
Shaun Taylor-Corbett is an actor, singer, and writer. A graduate of the University of Delaware, he has television and Broadway credits, including the role of Sonny on Broadway in In the Heights. He also has off-Broadway credits including In the Heights and Altar Boyz.
Tim Gerard Reynolds is an established audiobook narrator who has won several AudioFile Earphones Awards and was a finalist for the prestigious Audie Award for Best Fantasy Narration. He trained for the stage at the Samuel Beckett Center at Trinity College in Dublin and the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center in New London, Connecticut.
Cassandra Campbell has won multiple Audie Awards, Earphones Awards, and the prestigious Odyssey Award for narration. She was been named a “Best Voice” by AudioFile magazine and in 2018 was inducted in Audible’s inaugural Narrator Hall of Fame.