The Barn

The Secret History of a Murder in Mississippi

De: Wright Thompson

Narrado por: Wright Thompson

The instant New York Times bestseller • Named a Best Book of the Year by The Washington Post, Slate, Vanity Fair, TIME, Buzzfeed, Smithsonian, BookPage, KCUR, Kirkus, and Boston Globe • Nominated for a PEN America Literary Award

“It literally changed my outlook on the world…incredible.” —Shonda Rhimes

"The Barn is serious history and skillful journalism, but with the nuance and wallop of a finely wrought novel… The Barn describes not just the poison of silence and lies, but also the dignity of courage and truth.” — The Washington Post

“The most brutal, layered, and absolutely beautiful book about Mississippi, and really how the world conspired with the best and worst parts of Mississippi, I will ever read…Reporting and reckoning can get no better, or more important, than this.” —Kiese Laymon

“An incredible history of a crime that changed America.” —John Grisham

A shocking and revelatory account of the murder of Emmett Till that lays bare how forces from around the world converged on the Mississippi Delta in the long lead-up to the crime, and how the truth was erased for so long

Wright Thompson’s family farm in Mississippi is 23 miles from the site of one of the most notorious and consequential killings in American history, yet he had to leave the state for college before he learned the first thing about it. To this day, fundamental truths about the crime are widely unknown, including where it took place and how many people were involved. This is no accident: the cover-up began at once, and it is ongoing.

In August 1955, two men, Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam, were charged with the torture and murder of the 14-year-old Emmett Till in Money, Mississippi. After their inevitable acquittal in a mockery of justice, they gave a false confession to a journalist, which was misleading about where the long night of hell took place and who was involved. In fact, Wright Thompson reveals, at least eight people can be placed at the scene, which was inside the barn of one of the killers, on a plot of land within the six-square-mile grid whose official name is Township 22 North, Range 4 West, Section 2, West Half, fabled in the Delta of myth as the birthplace of the blues on nearby Dockery Plantation.

Even in the context of the racist caste regime of the time, the four-hour torture and murder of a Black boy barely in his teens for whistling at a young white woman was acutely depraved; Till’s mother Mamie Till-Mobley’s decision to keep the casket open seared the crime indelibly into American consciousness. Wright Thompson has a deep understanding of this story—the world of the families of both Emmett Till and his killers, and all the forces that aligned to place them together on that spot on the map. As he shows, the full horror of the crime was its inevitability, and how much about it we still need to understand. Ultimately this is a story about property, and money, and power, and white supremacy. It implicates all of us. In The Barn, Thompson brings to life the small group of dedicated people who have been engaged in the hard, fearful business of bringing the truth to light. Putting the killing floor of the barn on the map of Township 22 North, Range 4 West, Section 2, West Half, and the Delta, and America, is a way of mapping the road this country must travel if we are to heal our oldest, deepest wound.

©2024 Wright Thompson (P)2024 Penguin Audio

Context

There's nothing virtual about Mississippi, it's all real, so watch out! When it comes to Mississippi you can go away but you can never get away

Wonderful intelligent writer

The author has given us a gift of feeling as if I sat on my grandmother’s porch listening to the story while getting a breath of history I’ve never heard before. The gift connected the dots of time that enlightened, convicted, and encouraged me to never forget, while seeking the beloved community.

Amazing book

I loved how this book ties the history of a place to the actions of the people that lived there

Best read of 2024

Please take some time and read this book! It will absolutely change your thinking! Keep you mind open, your ears alert and your heart fixated on truth!

Just because it happened in the past doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.

The author’s research impressed me, down to the familial relationships. His research about land ownership as well as land taken from Black families was interesting. In the end, the fact that grown men who happened to be white murdered a child and walked away without consequences will always be remembered. The town’s population can act like nothing happened all they want to and not acknowledge this crime, we all know. We will never forget! Already recommended to family and friends. Great read!

An amazing story of a tragedy

A necessary and absolutely horrific story that Mississippi and so many others hope to erase. As a Mississippian, The Barn is a corrective to all the whitewashed history I was taught.

Mr. Thompson has knocked on all the doors that he could knock on when it comes to the Emmitt Till case. It’s absolutely beautifully written. That said, I came to dislike his voice intensely. He sounds like redneck Cookie Monster. My brother, I mean this sincerely: You’re a fine writer so go write, don’t narrate. But if you do, the word is “Memphis”, not “Mimfis.”

A necessary and devastating read

Wright Thompson drags you into the Delta and does not let you go. The research and detail of this book shows a level of care of the people and land that many books fall short of. Wright Thompson truly is a voice of the southern experience.

Increíble.

Hands down the best book on Emmett Till, Mississippi and race in America. I highly recommend.

Very sad story

I am truly shocked at the cold, cruel actions these grown men took against this child, Emmit Till. This poor, innocent child did not deserve in any, way, shape, or form this kind of horrible, horrific, tragic treatment. Regardless of skin color, no one deserves to have their life taken in such an inhumane manner. I am sickened by the actions that these men and women. This should never have happened and I pray never happens again.

Fascinatingly detailed telling

Wright Thompson does an extraordinary job of telling the Emmett Till story in The Barn. I had never heard of Emmett Till before listening to Mr Thompson read his boom to me. I felt, as I listened, as though I were a spectator to this story taking place in 1955. The details used by the author transports the listener to the delta in Mississippi as though the story was happening for the first time.