Those We Thought We Knew

By: David Joy

Narrated by: MacLeod Andrews

Length: 9 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

Winner of the 2023 Willie Morris Award for Southern Fiction

Winner of the 2023 Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award

One of Vanity Fair’s Favorite Books of 2023

“A beautifully fearless contemplation.”–S. A. Cosby

From award-winning writer David Joy comes a searing new novel about the cracks that form in a small North Carolina community and the evils that unfurl from its center.

Toya Gardner, a young Black artist from Atlanta, has returned to her ancestral home in the North Carolina mountains to trace her family history and complete her graduate thesis. But when she encounters a still-standing Confederate monument in the heart of town, she sets her sights on something bigger.

Meanwhile, local deputies find a man sleeping in the back of a station wagon and believe him to be nothing more than some slack-jawed drifter. Yet a search of the man’s vehicle reveals that he is a high-ranking member of the Klan, and the uncovering of a notebook filled with local names threatens to turn the mountain on end.

After two horrific crimes split the county apart, every soul must wrestle with deep and unspoken secrets that stretch back for generations. Those We Thought We Knew is an urgent unraveling of the dark underbelly of a community. Richly drawn and bracingly honest, it asks what happens when the people you’ve always known turn out to be monsters, what do you do when everything you ever believed crumbles away?

©2023 David Joy (P)2023 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

One of:

Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Best Southern Books of 2023

Garden & Gun’s Best Books for (and About) Southerners of 2023

BookRiot’s 10 Best Appalachian Books of 2023

CrimeReads's Most Anticipated Crime Fiction of Summer 2023

“[David Joy] is a man who sees his homeplace clearly and who writes like his hand was touched by God.”–The New York Times

“A refreshing departure…Joy has a knack for heightening intrigue…. He’s like a magician playing a shell game, and it’s an effective way to keep readers on their toes. The book is filled with gorgeous prose, particularly when Joy turns his considerable talents toward descriptions of the natural world.”–Atlanta Journal Constitution

“Unflinching and timely…Joy has mastered the high-stakes, page-turning Appalachian-noir style, and through this lens, the preconceived notions of life in the mountains are overturned.”–Christian Science Monitor

Good book

I liked this book - the story & the characters are dynamic and interesting, as they always are with David Joy's writing.
Macleod Andrews narration brings this book and its characters to life in a way that is hard to explain. He could bring depth and profundity to a buzzfeed listicle.

Amazing

This is an outstanding book. The writing is authentic and true, just like the characters. Hopefully this author will receive the recognition he deserves. A fiction writer myself I can be tough to please but for me, this book hit the sweet spot between excellent literature and chair-gripping suspense.

Joy does it AGAIN

David Joy is a one in a lifetime talent who did something few could actually pull off, and he does it with gut wreching sincerity. All of his books leave me wondering how much he has left to give us. I want more from this author. Read any of his novels and you'll want more, too. Kudos to the narrator, as well, Fair warning: This book might make you confront some ugly truths about the people you think you've always known.

Excellent listen!

I grew up in the south but this was still eye opening and thought provoking for sure. Highly recommend

Powerhouse of a Story!

5 stars for this surprising powerhouse of a story by David Joy. This story is told so authentically and with such subtle insight you are drawn in deep before you even realize it. I love the voice in this story of conflict - between race and age and history and the future and awareness and acceptance and forgiveness and moving forward. I cannot say enough good things about this book. The characters were complex and ugly and sad and pitiful and raging and ignorant and hopeful. I loved that Joy gave a voice to the culture of the Appalachia as well. A tragedy on so many levels but so gorgeously told. And there are more than one moments where you will be shaking your head and saying, "Holy crap!" Really recommend. David Joy is right up there with S. A. Cosby in the poetic way they tell stories of racism. Really well done!

Fabulous Book

This is my first book by David Joy, so I really had no expectations. I loved everything about this book. I highly recommend it. You won’t be able to put it down.

D. Joy swings a metaphorical folded metal chair

I love the way David Joy nails the everyday life of real people living in every small community across America; just like the one I live in. How good and not so good people exists in their drug, crime, abusive, and poverty stricken environments. Each character reminds me of someone I have worked with professionally as a Child Abuse and Neglect Investigator or personally from my experiences living in a small town. This book is no different. And because of David Joy's authentic approach to his stories, he should be the one to tell the story of what racism, white privilege, and white fragility looks like in a small town because 99% of white people in a small town don't get it!

It is hard to be a white person in a small town and talk to other white people who think racism is an old term Southern term or only exists in big cities. It is even harder to introduce newer terms like white fragility and white privilege. My hope is that the way David Joy approaches this issue, this book will make its way into the hands of small town white folks who think because they wear a badge they are colorblind or because they have a life long black friend they are incapable of making racist remarks.Personally, I put this book in the same class as To Kill A Mockingbird.

This book is in my top 3 favorite books of all time and my top favorite book of 2023! I will read this again and again and recommend over and over. Maybe even send it anonymously to a few folks.

Bravo! Bravo David Joy!

An Extraordinary Listening Challenge

David Joy has written a thoughtful and intriguingly book suspenseful book that also explores a challenging topic (Spoiler Alert racial issues) in a non threatening/non preachy way. The two main protagonists must confront the impact of the death of a strong character in the story on their lives. The beauty of this story involves the many twists and surprises contained in the audiobook. The characters in the story are well formed and the suspense and character resolve is amazing. Macleod Andrews does a masterful job as narrator and really brings the story to life. I think we all have purchased an audiobook we wished we had not; this audiobook is not such a purchase. You will be thankful that you purchased Those We Thought We Knew. You should give yourself this gift.

One of the best authors out today

I recommend this ,and every David Joy book out there, to everyone. He is an amazing writer and I can’t wait for his next book to come out.

Wow!!

Excellent Book and great narration. The beautiful ending made me cry! Highly recommended it. I Absolutely loved it💯💯