All Aunt Hagar's Children

Categories: African American , Fiction

Edward P. Jones is best known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Known World, which weaves the lives of several interconnecting African-American families back and forth through the nineteenth century.

His latest work, All Aunt Hagar's Children,is a collection of fourteen short stories echoing his earlier themes of family and connection. Four of the fourteen have already appeared in The New Yorker. Each shines as an individual piece, yet often the stories loop back to another story's characters.

Mainly set in Washington, D.C. during various decades of the twentieth century, the stories shimmer with beautiful writing, memorable characters and a rich appreciation of family and friendship. From the doubts of a young bride about her future with her husband to the eerie familiarity of a woman who meets the devil in the local Safeway,  the stories are alive with mood and feeling.   Jones shifts back and forth in time and point of view with fluid ease as he anchors all his people in Washington at some point in their narrative. 

As someone who usually shuns short stories (must have been the trauma of high school English class), I fell in love with the structure and rhythm of the writing as well as the myriad personalities of the characters and their fates.  A treat for anyone who enjoys fine writing.