The Warmth of Other Suns

NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD WINNER ΓÇó NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ΓÇó In this beautifully written masterwork,the Pulitzer PrizeΓÇôwinnner and bestselling author of Caste chronicles one of the great untold stories of American history: the decades-long migration of black citizens who fled the South for northern and western citiesin search of a better life. From 1915 to 1970this exodus of almost six million people changed the face of America. Wilkerson compares this epic migration to the migrations of other peoples in history. She interviewed more than a thousand peopleand gained access to new data and official recordsto write this definitive and vividly dramatic account of how these American journeys unfoldedaltering our citiesour countryand ourselves. With stunning historical detailWilkerson tells this story through the lives of three unique individuals: Ida Mae Gladneywho in 1937 left sharecropping and prejudice in Mississippi for Chicagowhere she achieved quiet blue-collar success andin old agevoted for Barack Obama when he ran for an Illinois Senate seat; sharp and quick-tempered George Starlingwho in 1945 fled Florida for Harlemwhere he endangered his job fighting for civil rightssaw his family falland finally found peace in God; and Robert Fosterwho left Louisiana in 1953 to pursue a medical careerthe personal physician to Ray Charles as part of a glitteringly successful medical careerwhich allowed him to purchase a grand home where he often threw exuberant parties. Wilkerson brilliantly captures their first treacherous and exhausting cross-country trips by car and train and their new lives in colonies that grew into ghettosas well as how they changed these cities with southern foodfaithand culture and improved them with disciplinedriveand hard work. Both a riveting microcosm and a major assessmentThe Warmth of Other Suns is a boldremarkableand riveting worka superb account of an ΓÇ£unrecognized immigrationΓÇ¥ within our own land. Through the breadth of its narrativethe beauty of the writingthe depth of its researchand the fullness of the people and lives portrayed hereinthis book is destined to become a classic.