The Personal History of Rachel DuPree
A Novel
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Narrated by:
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Quincy Tyler Bernstine
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By:
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Ann Weisgarber
About this listen
Soon to be a major motion picture starring Emmy Award winner and Oscar nominee Viola Davis; "An eye-opening look at the little-explored area of a black frontier woman in the American West." (Chicago Sun-Times)
Praised by Alice Walker and many other best-selling writers, The Personal History of Rachel DuPree is an award-winning debut novel with incredible heart about life on the prairie as it's rarely been seen. Reminiscent of The Color Purple as well as the frontier novels of Laura Ingalls Wilder and Willa Cather, it opens a window on the little-known history of African American homesteaders and gives voice to an extraordinary heroine who embodies the spirit that built America.
©2016 Ann Weisgarber (P)2016 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
"The Personal History of Rachel DuPree is a John Ford movie...with black people! It's spectacular! Really great! I can't put it down. I've never read anything like it!" (Viola Davis, Academy Award-nominated and Tony Award-winning actress)
"A rousing gallop with African American pioneers settling in the South Dakota Badlands." (Ebony)
"An eye-opening look at the little explored area of a black frontier woman in the American West." (Chicago Sun-Times)
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Gap Creek is a powerful and touching story of a marriage at the turn of the century. For Julie and Hank, life grinds ever on without pause or concern for hard work. From devastating floods to encounters with intoxicated grifters, they survive the disappointments and triumphs of their new life together. An Oprah Book Club Pick. Browse more Oprah selections.
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Painfully beautiful...
- By Eileen on 09-23-03
By: Robert Morgan
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Promise
- A Novel
- By: Minrose Gwin
- Narrated by: Adenrele Ojo
- Length: 12 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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In the aftermath of a devastating tornado that rips through the town of Tupelo, Mississippi, at the height of the Great Depression, two women worlds apart - one Black, one White; one a great-grandmother, the other a teenager - fight for their families' survival in this lyrical and powerful novel.
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Mostly Disappointing
- By Anjoli on 06-15-19
By: Minrose Gwin
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The Plague of Doves
- By: Louise Erdrich
- Narrated by: Peter Francis James, Kathleen McInerney
- Length: 11 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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The unsolved murder of a farm family haunts the small, white, off-reservation town of Pluto, North Dakota. The vengeance exacted for this crime and the subsequent distortions of truth transform the lives of Ojibwe living on the nearby reservation and shape the passions of both communities for the next generation.
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Avoid this Plague
- By Andre on 05-16-08
By: Louise Erdrich
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Mudbound
- By: Hillary Jordan
- Narrated by: Ezra Knight, Kate Forbes, Joseph Collins, and others
- Length: 9 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Hillary Jordan's mesmerizing debut novel won the Bellwether Prize for fiction. A powerful piece of Southern literature, Mudbound takes on prejudice in its myriad forms on a Mississippi Delta farm in 1946. City girl Laura McAllen attempts to raise her family despite questionable decisions made by her husband. Tensions continue to rise when her brother-in-law and the son of a family of sharecroppers both return from WWII as changed men bearing the scars of combat.
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May this South never rise again.
- By Betty on 03-25-12
By: Hillary Jordan
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The Beekeeper's Son
- Amish of Bee County, Book 1
- By: Kelly Irvin
- Narrated by: Angela Brazil
- Length: 10 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Phineas King knows better than to expect anything but shock and pity wherever he shows his face. Horribly scarred from the tragic accident that claimed his mother's life, he chooses to keep his distance from everyone, focusing his time and energy on the bees his family raises. So why does he start finding excuses to seek out Deborah Lantz, the beautiful new arrival in town?
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Book lover. No matter what forum.
- By J.C. on 06-21-15
By: Kelly Irvin
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Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All
- By: Allan Gurganus
- Narrated by: Barbara McCulloh
- Length: 49 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Allan Gurganus's Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All became an instant classic upon its publication. Critics and fans alike fell in love with the voice of 99-year-old Confederate widow Lucy Marsden, one of the most entertaining and loquacious heroines in American literature. Lucy married at the turn of the 20th century, when she was 15 and her husband was 50. If Colonel William Marsden was a veteran of the "War for Southern Independence", Lucy became a "veteran of the veteran" with a unique perspective on Southern history and Southern manhood.
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Dated.
- By edie butler on 04-06-21
By: Allan Gurganus
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Fallen Angels
- By: Patricia Hickman
- Narrated by: John McDonough
- Length: 10 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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During the Great Depression, Jeb Nubey is running from the law when he meets three abandoned children. With nowhere else to go the group passes a stormy night in a comforting church. When they are discovered, a case of mistaken identity ensues. It seems the congregation has been waiting for their new pastor, a widower with three kids. Looks like more trouble for Jeb. Yet the chance for a steady job and three squares a day is too good to turn down.
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Touching
- By Christina on 11-11-04
By: Patricia Hickman
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A Sweetness to the Soul
- By: Jane Kirkpatrick
- Narrated by: Susan Denaker
- Length: 17 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Based on historical characters and events, A Sweetness to the Soul recounts the captivating story of young, spirited Oregon pioneer Jane Herbert who at the age of 12 faces a tragedy that begins a life-long search for forgiveness and love. In the years that follow, young Jane finds herself involved in an unusual and touching romance with a dreamer 16 years her senior, struggles to make peace with an emotionally distant mother, and fights to build a family of her own.
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Unexpected Treat
- By Sarah D. on 12-15-11
By: Jane Kirkpatrick
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This Side of the Sky
- By: Elyse Singleton
- Narrated by: Myra Taylor, Sharon Washington, Richard Ferrone
- Length: 11 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Award-winning journalist Elyse Singleton delivers what Essence calls “a gem - the perfect book to curl up with.”
Best friends Lilian and Myraleen, two African American women from rural Mississippi, travel to Europe during World War II to act as members of the Women’s Army Corps. During this time of segregation and destruction, both women discover love and heartbreak, triumph and defeat.
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A Breath of Fresh Air
- By Adina Andreu on 07-19-12
By: Elyse Singleton
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Winter Collection
- Six Historical Short Stories (A Timeless Romance Anthology, Book 1)
- By: Sarah M. Eden, Heidi Ashworth, Annette Lyon, and others
- Narrated by: Karen Peakes
- Length: 8 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Six award-winning authors have contributed brand new stories to A Timeless Romance Anthology: Winter Collection. A collection unlike any other, listeners will love this compilation of six sweet historical romance novellas, set in varying eras, yet all with one thing in common: Romance.
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Winter
- By Manila J. Dobbs on 08-12-23
By: Sarah M. Eden, and others
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The Hearts of Horses
- A Novel
- By: Molly Gloss
- Narrated by: Renée Raudman
- Length: 9 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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The irresistible tale of 19-year-old Martha Lessen, a female horse whisperer trying to make a go of it in a man's world. It was thought that the only way to break a horse was to buck the wild out of it, and broken ribs and tough falls just went with the job. But over several long, hard winter months, many of the townsfolk in this remote county of eastern Oregon witness Martha's way of talking in low, sweet tones to horses believed beyond repair---and getting miraculous, almost immediate results.
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Simple, Honest, Wonderful
- By Julie W. Capell on 11-08-09
By: Molly Gloss
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Esperanza Rising
- By: Pam Munoz Ryan
- Narrated by: Trini Alvarado
- Length: 4 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Esperanza Ortega possesses all the treasures a young girl in Aguascalientes, Mexico could want. But a sudden tragedy shatters that dream, forcing Esperanza and Mama to flee to California and settle in a Mexican farm labor camp. There they confront the challenges of hard work, acceptance by their own people, and economic difficulties brought on by the Great Depression. Pam Munoz Ryan eloquently portrays the Mexican workers' plight in this abundant and passionate novel.
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GET THIS BOOK RIGHT NOW
- By Laura on 04-14-16
By: Pam Munoz Ryan
What listeners say about The Personal History of Rachel DuPree
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Homesteading in South Dakota
In the early 1900 many set out to claim a homestead in South Dakota. Including the adult children of former slaves.
The Personal History of Rachel Dupree is a novel but based on this historical period of time . It shows the hardships of anyone who tries to turn the vast prairie land into a place to farm and raise a family. The story does a great job of injecting the extra challenges of race without taking away from the isolation, hardship, and great risk of homesteaders in the Dakotas.
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- Arlene Johns
- 04-30-17
Didn't buy it
How could the family live on a cattle ranch and yet be starving? Couldn't they kill a steer and eat hamburger? This confused me. Still I liked the book.
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- Amazon Customer
- 08-03-24
The. Narrator Did a Stunning Performance
The story was phenomenal on so many levels. The weight we carry can be unbearable. But once we rise up, there is no stopping us! I feel so inspired by this narrative!
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- RueRue
- 04-20-18
Good historical drama
Very good historical book about a black family working to eck out a living in the brutal Dakota Badlands. The author is good at making Rachel and Isaac DuPree into multi-faceted characters (though Isaac isn't particularly sympathetic, and Rachel is often too weak willed). The plotting is rather slow-paced, but the drama of daily living in a harsh, unforgiving environment drives the narrative. (I recommend having a bottle of water at the ready while listening to the descriptions of drought; you will need it )
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9 people found this helpful
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- Jenna Wattenbarger
- 01-28-18
1800s homesteading in all its pain & minutiae
It's hard to come upon books that deal with the day to day women's work of the past. I wonder if she called this a personal history because as opposed to men's histories, it isn't about conquering or achieving something great in the world's eyes so much as the work women did privately and the Incredible strength that they had. what they cooked, the furnishings of her home, her Chicago childhood as a black girl in the early 20th century, what they wore, how they secured water, the little things she was able to give her children such as rag dolls and fairy tales. Some parts of this book were difficult to listen to. It just goes on and on. Hungry children gathering cow chips for the stove in the miserable biting cold of South Dakota. Their thirst through the drought is palpable; the dust in their throats in mouths and how she dreams of washing everything when the rains come, as her husband promises they will. What I really loved about this book, aside from satisfying my curiosity about what it would have been like on a daily basis to live as a woman in that time, is the pure, selfless heart of Rachel Dupree as she works to maintain her love for her husband and her children's innocence, wanting to give what she calls a dab of sweetness to their lives, which she admits will probably mostly be hard work.
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2 people found this helpful
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- I. Lewis
- 03-24-17
I love this book.
Any additional comments?
My only issues with this book is the narrator and the cover photo. The narrator herself was great but her voice I don't think was the best. I had a hard time not picturing the children as little caucasian children. That voice with the cover photo I wanted to make the main character bi-racial. Inside it clearing states over and over that the main character is dark skinned. Its a part of the story. Strange choice in narrator. Still the story was so great I couldn't stop listening and came to the end to quickly!
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5 people found this helpful
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- R York
- 10-08-16
Not your typical pioneer book
This was a good story with a different perspective. My only complaint (if you can call it that) is the narrator's voice did not match the main character. She did a good job but it was like mixing oil and water.
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5 people found this helpful
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- TeeRoze
- 02-21-20
Excellent story
I can listen to the narrator, Quincy Tyler Berstein all day! She brought life to the story. Well written..
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- E.T.
- 08-06-21
NOOOO!
That’s what I said as it ended! I don’t want it to be over. What happens in Chicago? What happens to the ranch when Issac returns home? I want more!
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- Minneapolis listener
- 05-29-22
I love this author!
This book is poignant and beautiful, not to mention touching and educational.
The narration: absolutely perfect.
I look forward to a film, but more, I’d love a sequel!
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