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    Chasing the North Star
    Chasing the North Star
    Chasing the North Star
    Audiobook10 hours

    Chasing the North Star

    Written by Robert Morgan

    Narrated by Kevin R. Free and Carra Patterson

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    On a moonless night in the spring of 1851, a young slave makes a bid for freedom with only the North Star to guide him. Bestselling novelist and historian Robert Morgan returns with a stunning new work of historical fiction. In Chasing the North Star, Morgan brings to full and vivid life the story of a runaway slave named Jonah Williams who, on his eighteenth birthday, flees the South Carolina plantation on which he was born with only a few stolen coins, a knife, and the clothes on his back. No shoes, no map, no clear idea of where to head, except north, hiding during the day and running through the night. Although Jonah eludes the men sent to capture him, the one person who never loses his trail is Angel, a slave girl he meets in North Carolina, a young woman with a remarkably free spirit who sees Jonah as her way to freedom and sets out to follow him. Morgan's clear, plain prose brings an urgency and authenticity to this spellbinding story of two teenage runaways and their terrifying world. Filled with adventure and romance, Chasing the North Star is storytelling of the highest caliber.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateApr 5, 2016
    ISBN9781501905230
    Chasing the North Star
    Author

    Robert Morgan

    Robert Morgan is a poet, novelist, and biographer. His most recent book is Boone: A Biography (2007), winner of the Kentucky Literary Award and finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Award. He is the recipient of fellowships and awards from the Guggenheim and Rockefeller Foundations, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the American Academy of Arts and Letters, as well as an honorary degree from his alma mater, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Since 1971 he has taught at Cornell University, where he is now Kappa Alpha

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    Reviews for Chasing the North Star

    4/5

    92 ratings36 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Thoroughly enjoyable. Got hooked on this one and didn't want it to end.
    • 5/5
      Robert Morgan has done it again. Great story with characters that take you along with them. Could not put this book down. I would definitely recommend this book to others.
    • 5/5
      Robert Morgan is one of my favorite writers and I was excited to win Chasing the North Star from Librarything's early reviewers. As they say "He can sure spin a good yarn." I always learn things when I read one of Mr. Morgan's books and I always enjoy the Appalachia flavor but what he is really good at is pulling you into his characters lives. I always feel I am watching his story unfold on a movie screen. I was holding my breath more than once when Jonah Williams found himself in a predicament. Thank you Algonquin Books and Librarything for a chance to review this wonderful book.
    • 2/5
      I did very much appreciate that the female protagonist is described as both fat and attractive, in a completely matter-of-fact way. But that was really the only interesting thing about the book: the characters were shallow and it was very difficult to get invested in their story.
    • 3/5
      This was an interesting book, describing the escape to the North of two teenage slaves. The two characters, Jonah and Angel, were drawn as having two distinctly different approaches to solving the problems along the way, with Jonah taking the more considered path to solving his dilemma. Surprisingly, nowhere along the way were they helped by members of the Underground Railway. This book was rich with colorful scenes and characters the two runaways met on their journey. Hard to put down, but the ending left me unsettled.
    • 4/5
      Jonah is a slave who picks up the ability to read by watching the masters children attend lessons. When his owners wife catches him with a book and learns he can read she makes him keep it a secret and gives him the opportunity to further his reading ability. ultimately Jonah escapes and uses his knowledge to help him on his journey. Along the way he meets Angel who is inspired by him to also run away. The two will continue to cross paths despite Jonahs best attempts to rid him self of Angel. This was interesting account of two slaves journey north.
    • 4/5
      Good story of escaped slaves on the run from South Carolina for their freedom. Jonah and Angel are survivors who travel together off and on over several months, dodging danger and surviving horrific circumstances. Their adventures ultimately lead them to the freedom all human beings deserve. It was difficult to read about the abuse they suffered, such a dark time for our country. Robert Morgans style of writing is interesting and engaging, it's not bare bones but the words he strings together are just the right amount to convey what needs to be said. Recommended.
    • 4/5
      Chasing the North Star is a novel about 2 runaway slaves. The high rating (4 stars) is given due to Robert Morgan's strong prose and vivid descriptions, which is what I would expect from the writer of Gap Creek. The story flowed smoothly as Jonah and Angel slowly made their way North, although the way that their paths kept crossing was just a little too neat for my liking. Still, the struggle of slaves searching for freedom, combined with Morgan's good, solid writing style, made for an enjoyable read.
    • 5/5
      Robert Morgan has written a page-turning story about two runaway slaves who are determined to find a better life. Jonah and Angel are believable characters that readers can empathize with. At times, I felt upset over their situation, a sign of a well-written book ... that, and the fact that I stayed up way too late many nights because I couldn't put the book down. I also enjoyed the way that Mr. Morgan made Ithaca, NY a positive character in the story. This story is set during the antebellum period in the US, but it could easily relate to other persecuted groups who are seeking a better life.
    • 3/5
      I enjoyed this book, and read it large gulps, at least until the end. For the most part, it read like a thriller. I found myself wondering what was happening with the character when I was not reading. But yet except for the chase, not much too the story. So why only 3 stars?First, there was nothing compelling about the relationship between the 2 main characters. Angel was not particularly likable. There wasn't much depth to her. We're told she's being treated well but "doesn't want to be a white man's toy" --a realistic reason for a slave to take on the rigors of escape? There is also emphasis put on her being a large, fat girl, which seems to have very little to do with the story.Jonah abandons Angel on 4 different occasions, but despite this she chases him and they eventually end up married. So she doesn't want to be a toy, but does want a man who has walked away from her repeatedly? Again why? And then there's the vignette about Jonah being locked in a root cellar in Pennsylvania only to have the mother of the man who's imprisoned him tell her son to let him go - which the son immediately does. Another whyAnd when Jonah finally gets to Ithaca, he meets a man who is kind to him and who miraculously has a printing press in his basement where he creates a receipt for Joshua saying that he was now free. Jonah doesn't question this. Some one who treats him so well, risking breaking the law to do so, after all this hardship gets barely a passing mention. (Not to mention, how does a minister who works in a mill during the week afford to have a printing press in his basement in the first placeSo, to sum up, a wonderfully detailed chase that leads to nothing. Disappointing.
    • 4/5
      This novel follows the journey of two run-away slaves from South Carolina to Ithaca, New York. Jonah is able to read and keep a map of the journey in his head. Along the way he is joined by a companion, Angel, who helps him as they steal eggs and other necessities to aid in their journey north. They travel on their own, sometimes hopping trains and helped by strangers but also pursued by others hoping for a reward. Somewhat slow paced but an interesting narrative offering insights into the journey to escape slavery and secure freedom.
    • 4/5
      I received a copy of Chasing the North Star by Robert Morgan from LibraryThing for early review.Chasing the North Star is a historical novel detailing the grueling journey north of 2 runaway slaves from North Carolina. Jonah is 18 when he decides to run. He has grown up on the Williams plantation serving Mrs. Williams and her children in his master's house and has learned to read by paying attention to the tutor that schooled the Williams' children. Mr Williams catches him reading one day and accuses him of stealing a book. That night after being brutally whipped, Jonah steals away. Traveling mostly at night initially, Jonah is constantly thinking of how he can avoid being caught and how he can survive. He meets Angel, a slave who is being sexually exploited by her master. Angel decides she too will runaway and follows Jonah north.Robert Morgan does a wonderful job of immersing you in the lives of the characters Jonah and Angel telling their stories in their voices. The horrors they must endure as they struggle reach freedom is heart wrenching and a testament to their will to live. Well worth the read.
    • 4/5
      The book caught my eye when it mentioned South Carolina. The history of my state is of a great interest to me. I have read many books on slavery, fact, and fiction, and this is one of my favorites. Most of the books on this terrible period have an “academic” feel to them whereas Chasing The North Star has a story of the human spirit, of the will to be free. A read of this book is a journey of pain and hardship, but also of love and a quest to live without bondage.
    • 4/5
      Robert Morgan's novel, Chasing the North Star, gives a different perspective on the flight of two slaves fleeing tot he north from South Carolina. Instead of connecting with the Underground Railway, the two young people make their way - sometimes together, sometimes individually - to Ithaca, New York using guile and good luck. The tale pulls you in and you are interested in what fates will befall the escaping slaves and the two meet all types of characters. The author is realistic in portraying some of the less savory things the two must do in order to survive - including working in a brothel - and some of the punishments to be endured.My reservations from rating the book more highly are primarily that there were just too many times when good luck or happy coincidences would save our two runaways. Jonah jumps a freight train and climbs into a box car and there sits Angel whom he had run off and left. These types of unlikely occurrences had me shaking my head several times. Nevertheless a pretty good read.
    • 3/5
      An interesting book and a good read. It would also make a good TV show, and I think this may be one of the book's faults. Like a TV show, logic, time and character are sometimes taken for granted and something could be dropped and a week later just picked up. This is a picaresque novel of Jonah Williams who escapes from a plantation in South Carolina and has a series of disjointed adventures on his way north to freedom. His character leaves his mother without a good-bye, steals her money as he leaves, and seems to have no human ties to his home. He meets a female slave later, Angel, who sticks to him even though he leaves her four times in the novel. Miraculously, they see each other and are re-united, even though they pass through five different states they always end up at the same town in time to see each other. Jonah doesn't care for Angel, and is cautious about being seen with another runaway slave. Angel has fallen for Jonah, and won't let him go. She has a sex filled life as a black prostitute in a white world, and seems to take no emotional problems with being used by so many men. Both Jonah and Angel seem to have little social attachments, and pass through life as observers rather than participants.Having to steal to survive, and although Jonah may have killed another runaway slave, they pass through the Old South using different plans and techniques to keep from being caught as runaway slaves. While this is part of the story, there seems to be no introspection or sorrow or joy for their misdeeds of theft, burglary and prostitution. Like a TV show, all the story characters do what they do to advance the plot, but don't express their personalities other than as two dimensional television characters who are simply there for a plot event. Some things in the story may have been based on an actual event that happened to runaway slaves, but just seem to be added to story, such as an encounter with a mad dog. Another is a fanciful story of a "Jubilee", where slaves runaway overnight for boozing, dancing and sex in a combination of bad Hollywood voodoo and old plantation stories. A mountain makes deep noises, that attract Jonah to the Jubilee, but is never explained other than a reference to a drum that could be heard for miles, but evidently not by white slave owners.The book ends as it should in TV, with the runaways both finding a haven in New York, and finding the joy of marriage, a clean home with flowers in the windowsill and children.The book did keep me interested, and is well paced as the runaways valiantly cross mountains, streams, large towns, and escape the dogs and slave catchers and suspicious whites.
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed this book about the the escape of 2 slaves a boy and a girl and there journey traveling north. Many things go wrong along the way.
    • 4/5
      Interesting book following an escaped slave from South Carolina to freedom. Jonah and Angel's story was one filled with lucky encounters and scary moments. This book was from LibraryThing's Early Reviewers.
    • 4/5
      I received this book through the LibraryThing EarlyReviewers.While reading this novel, it may seem that the journey portrayed should make the reader uncomfortable. To some extent it does, but more than that I found myself anxiously turning the pages with excitement that Jonah was getting closer and closer to the north despite the ups and downs of his struggle. The descriptions and characters in this book are very richly portrayed, with Jonah and Angel's emotions and ways of thinking clearly understood. When faced with injustice, Jonah's reaction is not the visceral outrage that we would expect in today's society, but more often than not he views these setbacks as commonplace, since this fragmented society is the only one he knows. You can learn a lot from this book, as well as experience realities and history that you may or may not be familiar with.I would highly recommend this book for adults. (Some parts of the story may not be appropriate for children.) 4/5
    • 5/5
      Johah Williams is a slave on a plantation in South Carolina. It’s 1850; well before the Civil War and Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. He’s Mrs. William’s house slave serving her two children. When the children are taught their lessons, Jonah listens. From those lessons, he teaches himself to read … it was illegal for a slave to read. Mrs. Williams catches him with a book he’d borrowed from their massive library. He thought he’d be beaten. Instead, she arranged for Jonah to read to her from the Bible every day. It was their secret. She even gave him a Bible of his own. This Bible “had letters the size of gnats and hairs. But it was the prettiest book he’d ever seen ….” While Mrs. Williams was away visiting her sister, Jonah was reading in the barn loft. Mr. Williams caught him, accused him of stealing the books, and beat him. It was then that Jonah decided he would seek freedom. That night, he took the jar of coins his mama had collected; a knife from the kitchen; and a hat and headed northward.When he could, he’d travel by night. When men with guns and dogs were after him, he’d seek water to throw off his scent. After a few nights, he happened onto a ‘Jubilee’. He saw a fire blazing and other Negroes dancing and chanting. It’s there he met Angel. She was also a house slave. The master was using her as his bed warmer. She decided if Jonah could run away, she could run, too. He tried a few times to leave her behind, but she always managed to reappear back in his life.The character of Jonah was so well-crafted that I could believe he was real as opposed to fictional. He literally traveled by foot, boat, wagon, and train on his journey seeking freedom. The trip was hard not only because he’d be beaten and possibly killed if he were captured and returned to Master Williams, but also because the terrain was perilous and the weather unforgiving. Angel added something very special to this story. As much as Jonah was ‘book smart’, she was ‘street smart’. They complimented each other in ways that Jonah refused to acknowledge. When the synopsis tells us that Angel manages to find Jonah even though he tried to leave her behind, I thought this would be too coincidental to be believable. But it was all very convincing. If you like books in which you can emotionally immerse yourself, you’ll love this story of Jonah’s arduous pursuit of freedom. Rating: 5 out of 5.
    • 3/5
      By observing the lessons of the children he serves, Jonah, a slave in North Carolina, has taught himself to read and write. When this secret is discovered and he is accused of stealing the book he is reading, he is whipped, and runs away with a head full of maps and very little else. Along the way, he meets Angel, who decides they are meant to be together after a single drunken night. Somehow she is able to keep finding him as he journeys northward, despite his best efforts to lose her, and this is not the only part of the book that feels inevitable. Throughout all the Jonah's travails (and there are several), I never doubted that he would reach the North and freedom. This inevitability took the tension completely out of the story for me and made it hard for me to care much about what happened to Jonah either along the way or in the end.
    • 4/5
      This is probably an all too realistic portrait of the past, full of too many descriptions of things no human being should have to experience, no matter what race, gender, class, etc, and of course equally horrific things continue today. Morgan writes with wonderful details, so much so that you feel as though you are right there with Jonah and Angel, in their separate and together experiences. The ending was appealing.
    • 4/5
      Thought provoking book with memorable characters. Robert Morgan did a wonderful job with characters and setting so the reader was able to visualize these as well as the many obstacles along the way. The story was realistic and troubling - well done.
    • 3/5
      This book had a slow start for me, just another book on runaway slaves. But I soon became involved with the two main characters after a few chapters. Their escape to the North and adventures they endured kept the story interesting but the ending seemed forced. It was an easy read though and well worth the time.
    • 3/5
      This book is too plot driven for my taste. The narrative alternates between two young runaway slaves as they try to escape to Canada a decade before the American Civil War. The characters and storyline lack the complexity I like to see in historical fiction. It is an interesting quick read and some of the imagery is quite good, but I would not recommend it.
    • 4/5
      If you enjoy historical fiction, you should enjoy this book! A masterful story spun by an author who can describe a scene so vividly you feel as though you are there. Many of the reviews describe the story line and I could do that too but I think more important is to know that when you read this book you will feel as though you were right there with Jonah and Angel, making the pursuit of freedom alongside them.
    • 4/5
      In some cases, a lack of planning pays off. Joshua, a young man enslaved on a South Carolina plantation has done the unforgivable-- he learned to read, and when caught reading by his master, who believes he has stolen the book to sell, since it is inconceivable that a slave could read, is beaten for his crime. Joshua decides to run away, He sets out woefully unprepared and unequipped: no food, no shoes, no plan, and only the money he stole from his mother's coin jar. But Joshua's big advantage is that he is smart, and knows the path and landmarks he must follow to reach his goal of freedom. Early in his journey, he meets Angel, another slave, who decides to follow Joshua as he follows the North Star. Sometimes in tandem, sometime apart, the two journey north, meeting the various challenges that confront them, using their brains and their luck to keep headed toward their goal.What I enjoyed most about this book was the beautiful way Robert Morgan weaves a tale. I learned this about his writing in some of his earlier books, and settled in to enjoy a master storyteller when I cracked open the pages of this book. I was not disappointed. Morgan managed to bring alive the characters and places of the story, taking me along with Joshua from South Carolina, where I currently live, through the more landscape that has been home for me at various points in my life. While much of the landscape was familiar to me, the few places I'd not travelled were easily envisioned through his words.Thank you Algonquin Press and Library Thing for sending me a copy of this book.Tags: 2016-read, advanced-reader-copy, algonquingiveaway, an-author-i-read, early-review-librarything, i-liked-it, made-me-look-something-up, made-me-think, places-i-have-been, read, set-in-my-stomping-grounds, taught-me-something
    • 5/5
      I received this book through the LibraryThing EarlyReviewers. Sorry to post this twice as I have two accounts .... plan on just using one from now on.. to avoid duplicates. I enjoyed this tale of two escaped slaves traveling from South to North to freedom. The book was well written and I would consider it a good fiction read about slavery in America. Robert Morgan researched this book in the Ithaca, NY area where he lives. I also live in central NY and have been interested in the Underground railroad in the area. It does not appear that many slaves went this exact route, but some did and made it to upstate NY or their ultimate destination, Canada. It includes a path through Pennsylvania and highlights here are memorable.I plan on visiting some the underground railroad sites in NY and PA, when I can. The book was well written. It is not long and can be read easily in a weekend. The mood of the book is optimistic as while I was reading I knew the two main characters would somehow make it north and hopefully end up together. It is the story of searching for freedom and also finding love.The book highlights some (but not all) of life on a plantation in the South. Jonah was fortunate that he could read which helped him to escape. Angel's character is not filled in as much as Jonah. We do not know much about her family and what she has left behind. There was not any detail on lives of other slaves left behind.It is primarily a tale of escape, a story that could easily be read aloud. It has suspense .If there is an audio version of the book, it would be worth listening to.
    • 5/5
      I received this book through the LibraryThing EarlyReviewers.I enjoyed this tale of two escaped slaves traveling from South to North to freedom. The book was well written and I would consider it a good fiction read about slavery in America. Robert Morgan researched this book in the Ithaca, NY area where he lives. I also live in central NY and have been interested in the Underground railroad in the area. It does not appear that many slaves went this exact route, but some did and made it to upstate NY or their ultimate destination, Canada. It includes a path through Pennsylvania and highlights here are memorable.I plan on visiting some the underground railroad sites in NY and PA, when I can. The book was well written. It is not long and can be read easily in a weekend. The mood of the book is optimistic as while I was reading I knew the two main characters would somehow make it north and hopefully end up together. It is the story of searching for freedom and also finding love.The book highlights some (but not all) of life on a plantation in the South. Jonah was fortunate that he could read which helped him to escape. Angel's character is not filled in as much as Jonah. We do not know much about her family and what she has left behind. There was not any detail on lives of other slaves left behind.It is primarily a tale of escape, a story that could easily be read aloud. It has suspense .If there is an audio version of the book, it would be worth listening to.
    • 2/5
      After almost 100 pages of running through the forest in escape with Jonah, I stopped reading. I get the point now let's have some story.
    • 5/5
      I have always loved Robert Morgan's novels. He is a gifted story teller and "Chasing the North Star" did not disappoint. Jonah and Angel, an unlikely pair of run away slaves. Getting through and overcoming obstacles in the way of their escape to the North and freedom. This book is descriptive, timeless in many ways and enveloping. Mr. Morgan makes you care about the characters! The sign of a wonderful story.