The Twelve Tribes of Hattie
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  • Published: 17 January 2013
  • ISBN: 9781448178278
  • Imprint: RH AudioGo
  • Format: Audio Download
  • Length: 10 hr 16 min
  • Narrators: Adenrele Ojo, Bahni Turpin, Adam Lazarre-White
  • RRP: $21.99

The Twelve Tribes of Hattie

Formats & editions
EBook
20 Dec 2012
Audiobook
17 Jan 2013
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‘The opening pages of Ayana’s debut took my breath away. I can’t remember when I read anything that moved me quite this way, besides the work of Toni Morrison.’ Oprah Winfrey

'The opening pages of Ayana's debut took my breath away. I can't remember when I read anything that moved me quite this way, besides the work of Toni Morrison.' Oprah Winfrey


Fifteen years old and blazing with the hope of a better life, Hattie Shepherd fled the horror of the American South on a dawn train bound for Philadelphia.

Hattie’s is a tale of strength, of resilience and heartbreak that spans six decades. Her American dream is shattered time and again: a husband who lies and cheats and nine children raised in a cramped little house that was only ever supposed to be temporary.

She keeps the children alive with sheer will and not an ounce of the affection they crave. She knows they don’t think her a kind woman — but how could they understand that all the love she had was used up in feeding them and clothing them.

How do you prepare your children for a world you know is cruel?

The lives of this unforgettable family form a searing portrait of twentieth century America. From the revivalist tents of Alabama to Vietnam, to the black middle-class enclave in the heart of the city, to a filthy bar in the ghetto, The Twelve Tribes of Hattie is an extraordinary, distinctive novel about the guilt, sacrifice, responsibility and heartbreak that are an intrinsic part of ferocious love.
  • Published: 17 January 2013
  • ISBN: 9781448178278
  • Imprint: RH AudioGo
  • Format: Audio Download
  • Length: 10 hr 16 min
  • Narrators: Adenrele Ojo, Bahni Turpin, Adam Lazarre-White
  • RRP: $21.99
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About the author

Ayana Mathis

Ayana Mathis was born in Philadelphia to a long line of formidable women. As an only child, a quirky and overactive imagination was inevitable, and at the age of eight she penned her first collection of short stories about a girl named Blue who came to a bad end in a tree house.

Many years passed before she rediscovered that focus and dedication - in the meantime Ayana worked as a waitress, a freelance researcher, a magazine journalist, and spent five years living in Italy.

In 2011 she received an MFA from the Iowa Writers Workshop and is a recipient of a Michener-Copernicus Fellowship. She currently lives in Brooklyn (she knows that lots of other writers live in Brooklyn, but she lived there first.) The Twelve Tribes of Hattie is her first novel.

portrait photo of Ayana Mathis

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Praise for The Twelve Tribes of Hattie

The opening pages of Ayana’s debut took my breath away. I can’t remember when I read anything that moved me in quite this way, besides the work of Toni Morrison.

Oprah Winfrey

As unremittingly bleak as her characters’ lives are, Mathis has not produced a grim novel: it is as much about our need for joy as it is about our struggles against bitterness. Written with elegance and remarkable poise, The Twelve Tribes of Hattie is rather like its heroine – a bit withholding at times, but memorable and with a hint of something formidable glinting under the surface.

Guardian

The Twelve Tribes of Hattie is a moving story of a broken American dream.

Stylist

This is an ambitious debut, already praised by Pulitzer and Orange Prize winner Marilynne Robinson and chat show host Oprah Winfrey. It is well-deserved, for this is an epic tale of struggle, oppression, love and loss, told bravely.

Scottish Daily Mail

Mathis beautifully unfolds the heartbreaking scene of a mother watching her babies’ lives ebb away . . . Chosen for the influential Oprah’s Book Club 2.0, this ambitious debut has attracted a lot of attention.

Irish Independent

Builds into a tense, real, multi-layered narrative of incredible emotional power. Much better than boring old Alice Walker.

Giles Coren, Metro
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