The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family

Annette Gordon-Reed

Sep 2009 · W. W. Norton & Company

About this ebook

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize
Winner of the National Book Award
New York Times Bestseller
#1 on Esquire's List of the 50 Best Biographies of All Time

"[A] commanding and important book." —Jill Lepore, The New Yorker

This epic work—named a best book of the year by the Washington Post, Time, the Los Angeles Times, Amazon, the San Francisco Chronicle, and a notable book by the New York Times—tells the story of the Hemingses, whose close blood ties to our third president had been systematically expunged from American history until very recently. Now, historian and legal scholar Annette Gordon-Reed traces the Hemings family from its origins in Virginia in the 1700s to the family’s dispersal after Jefferson’s death in 1826.

Ratings and reviews

Celia was never listed as a slave, her children were and that was horrible. If she was a slave how could she tell Robert that he was to leave her alone. Also, she didn't have to work like a slave. Also in the book there are a lot that is made up to be able to sell the book. How can someone write a book on so much assumption and it be non-fiction. Yes some of the info in the book is correct but where is all this information coming from. The actual court records are available on the internet if you want what is true and what is fiction. This book is more truthful than the other books "Celia the Slave" and other write ups about it. It is horrible what people write to try to be important.

A wonderful read with powerful historic perspective giving each character life other than as slaves and concubines. But explores life for the Himingses beyond the shallow text of traditional American History books that cover this well known historic African American family.

About the author

Annette Gordon-Reed is the Carl M. Loeb University Professor at Harvard University. The author of Pulitzer Prize–winning The Hemingses of Monticello, she lives in New York and Cambridge.