Twelve Years a Slave

By: Solomon Northup

Narrated by: Louis Gossett Jr.

Length: 7 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

Official Movie Tie-in Audiobook for the Academy Award's Best Picture and Golden Globe's Best Drama winner.

New York Times and USA Today Bestseller.

In this riveting landmark autobiography which reads like a novel, Academy Award and Emmy winner Louis Gossett, Jr., masterfully transports us to 1840s New York, Washington, D.C., and Louisiana to experience the kidnapping and twelve years of bondage of Solomon Northup, a free man of color. Twelve Years a Slave, published in 1853, was an immediate bombshell in the national debate over slavery leading up to the Civil War. It validated Harriett Beecher Stowe’s fictional account of Southern slavery in Uncle Tom’s Cabin, which had become the best-selling American book in history a few years earlier and significantly changed public opinion in favor of abolition. Experience our official movie tie-in audiobook for the award-winning motion picture, directed by Steve McQueen and starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Brad Pitt, Paul Giamatti, Michael Fassbender, and Lupita Nyong'o. This audio edition with an accompanying custom map is based on the research of Dr. Sue Eakin, the nationally recognized authority on Solomon Northup who spent a lifetime authenticating his story.

Hard working Solomon Northup, an educated free man of color in 1841, enjoys family life with his wife and three children in Saratoga, New York. He delights his community with his fiddle playing and antic spirit, and has positive expectations of all he meets. When he is deceived by “circus promoters” to accompany them to a musical gig in the nation’s capital, his joyful life takes an unimaginable turn. He awakens in shackles to find he has been drugged, kidnapped and bound for the slave block in D.C.

After Solomon is shipped 1,000 miles to New Orleans, he is assigned his slave name and quickly learns that the mere utterance of his true origin or rights as a freeman are certain to bring severe punishment or death. While he endures the brutal life of a slave in Louisiana’s isolated Bayou Boeuf plantation country, he must learn how to play the system and plot his escape home.

For 12 years, his fine mind captures the reality of slavery in stunning detail, as we learn about the characters that populate plantation society and the intrigues of the bayou – from the collapse of a slave rebellion resulting in mass hangings due to traitorous slave Lew Cheney, to the tragic abuse of his friend Patsey because of Mrs. Epps’ jealousy of her husband’s sexual exploitation of his pretty young slave.

When Solomon finally finds a sympathizing friend who risks his life to secret a letter to the North, a courageous rescue attempt ensues that could either compound Solomon’s suffering, or get him back to the arms of his family.

AUTHENTICATION: Northup’s harrowing first-hand account was authenticated from decades of research by Dr. Sue Eakin, who rediscovered the original narrative as a 12-year old in 1931 and made it her life’s work.

For additional audio clips, background info and images, see our website at www.12YearsASlaveBook.com.

Download your unique free map based on Solomon's narrative.

©2013 Eakin Films & Publishing (P)2013 Eakin Films & Publishing

Critic reviews

“...Gossett infuses the words with a quiet, seething power." ( AudioFile, 2013)

“I can never read his account of his days in slavery, of his independence of spirit, of his determination to be free…without believing that it would make a difference in today's world if our contemporaries knew of such a man as Solomon Northup." (Dr. John Hope Franklin, past president of the American Historical Association, best-selling author, recipient of Presidential Medal of Freedom, nation's highest civilian honor)

"[T]he extraordinary narrative of Solomon Northup is the most remarkable book that was ever issued from the American press." ( Detroit Tribune, original 1853 review) "Its truth is far greater than fiction." (Frederick Douglass, famous writer, former slave and abolitionist) "It will be read extensively, both at the North and the South." ( New York Tribune, 1853, published by Horace Greeley)

Incredible First Hand Account of Slavery

What did you love best about Twelve Years a Slave?

A first hand history by an educated black man sold into slavery.

What did you like best about this story?

Honest and balanced account of the times - and a happy ending.

What about Louis Gossett, Jr.’s performance did you like?

The voice felt as if it was right out of the period.

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

Many moments moved me but his final rescue and return to his family were wonderful.

Any additional comments?

I wonder how many other treasures such as Twelve Years A Slave are gathering dust on bookshelves, just waiting to find a more receptive audience than there was during the time they were written.

powerful

long book, and I had to keep reminding myself it is a memoir.... actually happened.

A must read

Loved this book and this amazing story!!! A must read for everyone. Louis Gossett does a great job of bringing Solomon Northrup's words to life

Great story

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

Yes

Any additional comments?

A very good story. Its funny in all the books that I have read around slavery and post slavery life in the US, I never really thought about free people being captured and sold into slavery, but it probably happened frequently. Recommended!

Life changing

This is a compelling and more moving story that sheds a clear light on this portion of American history

First Person Account

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, there are very few 1st person accounts of slavery. Everyone should read this and think about how a piece of genetic data condemned people to this fate.

A moving memoir

As a memoir of a man who was born free, suffered slavery, and regained his freedom, this is an important piece of American history. It shows just how difficult life was for black Americans in the 1800s. There were many small details (related to the processing of sugar cane, the picking of cotton, the swamps of Louisiana etc) which showed Northup's keen memory and eye for detail.

The narrator did a very solid job with this piece. The reason why I am not giving him or the book five stars is that while it is compelling, I feel that this is a book that should be read or experienced with maps and other materials. Just as an audio format, I feel there were things I missed out on. The plugs for the "Enhanced" edition at the beginning and end of the Audiobook also took me out of the story.

Truly an amazing story

I will attempt to find the words to describe this story, but I am utterly speechless, not so much by the story (being that I have heard of stories like this one before and it doesn't really surprise me in the least), but by the journey to which the book at to take to even be published for readers. The pure chance that a 12 year old girl (very ironic that her age was the same as his captivity) would come across this book in the manner that she did and remember the story all those years later.

A Very Sad Tale

What made the experience of listening to Twelve Years a Slave the most enjoyable?

The writing. It was very interesting to hear a first hand account of slavery.

What other book might you compare Twelve Years a Slave to and why?

I do not think there is a comparison, this is a very unique story.

Would you listen to another book narrated by Louis Gossett, Jr.?

I would, but he was kind of hard to understand at times.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Not One of the United Stat's Proudest Moments.

it's a must read.

This is the most compelling narrative to which I've ever been exposed. I am flabbergasted that this wasn't required reading during High School. this story is so incredibly important.