The Twelve Tribes of Hattie

By: Ayana Mathis

Narrated by: Adenrele Ojo, Bahni Turpin, Adam Lazarre-White

A debut of extraordinary distinction: through the trials of one unforgettable family, Ayana Mathis tells the story of the children of the Great Migration, a story of love and bitterness and the promise of a new America.

In 1923, 15-year-old Hattie Shepherd flees Georgia and settles in Philadelphia, hoping for a chance at a better life. Instead, she marries a man who will bring her nothing but disappointment and watches helplessly as her firstborn twins succumb to an illness a few pennies could have prevented. Hattie gives birth to nine more children, whom she raises with grit and mettle and not an ounce of the tenderness they crave. She vows to prepare them for the calamitous difficulty they are sure to face in their later lives, to meet a world that will not love them.

Captured here in 12 luminous narrative threads, their lives tell the story of a mother’s monumental courage and the journey of a nation. Beautiful and devastating, Ayana Mathis’s The Twelve Tribes of Hattie is glorious, harrowing, unexpectedly uplifting, and blazing with life.

©2013 Ayana Mathis (P)2013 Random House Audio

Hattie and her Family Tragically Flawed

Hattie bore eleven children. In the death of her first two, twins, Hattie becomes a shell of a woman. She is a victim of circumstance, from the times, from her relationships and from herself. Her husband August can't or won't be the man she needs yet he was the one person who shined with love, passion and tenderness toward the children.
The writing was superb; the twining of the twelve tales worked. I felt the ending abrupt and a bit disappointing.And I am so glad to have experienced this book.

Beautiful Reading

If you could sum up The Twelve Tribes of Hattie (Oprah's Book Club 2.0) in three words, what would they be?

Engaging Beautiful Sad

What does the narrators bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I loved hearing the narrator read the accents that sound like home (I live far away now). Her voice is beautiful and easy to listen to.

Any additional comments?

Recommend

Truly a Joy

The book made me feel warm like hot tea and cool like cool glass of water all at the same time. The writing kept me engaged, very visual writing. I definitely recommend giving it a chance.

Great Narration, Good Story

What made the experience of listening to The Twelve Tribes of Hattie (Oprah's Book Club 2.0) the most enjoyable?

The narration was on point. I could really get into the story and loved the way the narrator was able to move in and out of the period dialect and tone.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No. I actually liked the way it was broken up into short stories that were eventually strung together

Any additional comments?

The book did not leave me completely satisfied in the end. I felt the last quarter of the book were a bit rush and maybe not as well laid out as others.

amazing tale of transformation

such a lovely tale of how one mom is transformed through her children. must read

The core of what it is to be human

What did you love best about The Twelve Tribes of Hattie (Oprah's Book Club 2.0)?

This book gets at the core of what it is to be human. Yes, it is about the Great Migration, but it is about love, loss, regret, hope and so many other more subtle emotional aspects of the human psyche and heart. I was amazed by this author's ability to evoke so many different emotions in me. It was a wonderful intertwined tale that I will recommend to others. Thank you, Oprah, for recommending this one. Absolutely fabulous.

What does the narrators bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The narrators were all wonderful.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Too many to detail.

Any additional comments?

Read this book!

Painfully riveting

This is the truth about motherhood. Hattie's love for her children is evident in the sacrifices that she makes for them and the unconditional love that she shows to them. What a great story. Most of us have many Mother's and grandmother's like this.

Felt each character!

What made the experience of listening to The Twelve Tribes of Hattie (Oprah's Book Club 2.0) the most enjoyable?

I enjoyed the brief yet extensive visit with each character. Although set in a particular time period, the characterizations, situations, and reactions were timeless. I cared about each one of character because I understood them.

What did you like best about this story?

I loved that I had an opportunity to get to know Hattie and her husband first. Also the all the complexities of the "why's" that created the "who" that drove the "what" were not made evident all at once. I understood her and them little by little through relationship (which shape us all).

Have you listened to any of the narrators’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Adenrele and Bahni are my favorites and this performance was stellar (as expected!)

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I listen as I drive.

Any additional comments?

I wanted the ending to wrap up differently although I was not disappointed.

Loved the story

Where does The Twelve Tribes of Hattie (Oprah's Book Club 2.0) rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

As far as the content of the book, I loved it. I found the reader quite distracting to the story, however.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Hattie was the centerpiece, but I found her husband to be the most interesting. It was fascinating to see his perspective on their life and marriage in contrast to her's.

How could the performance have been better?

The reader had very awkward timing and phrasing. It wasn't smooth and consistent. She did well on dialogue, but the narrative was disjointed at times. The male reader was excellent. He had a magnificent voice and was absolutely believable.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No. It was easy to listen in chapters.

Any additional comments?

Very seldom does a book make me cry, but this one really touched my heart. The author caught the emotion and drama of a struggling family with too many mouths to feed and too few resources. It's also a solidifies the fact that even imperfect parents can be loved by their children. A wonderful book.

Another disappointing Oprah recommendation -

I generally don't like Oprah's recommendations. But this one came highly recommended, so I gave it a try. The narration was great. Very well done. The book may have been well-written, but was really a series short stories about people at perhaps the most miserable stages of their lives. The book was about Hattie's children, but I never really got a sense of them as a family, since each story was self-contained. Unless you're a true devotee of Oprah's recommendations, I wouldn't suggest this as a read for anyone.