''The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration'' (2010) is a historical study of the Great Migration by
Isabel Wilkerson
Isabel Wilkerson (born 1961) is an American journalist and the author of '' The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration'' (2010) and '' Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents'' (2020). She is the first woman of African-A ...
Janet Maslin
Janet R. Maslin (born August 12, 1949) is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for ''The New York Times''. She served as a ''Times'' film critic from 1977 to 1999 and as a book critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000 Maslin ...
David Oshinsky
David M. Oshinsky (born 1944) is an American historian. He is the director of the Division of Medical Humanities at NYU School of Medicine and a professor in the Department of History at New York University.
Background
Oshinsky graduated from C ...
''The Warmth of Other Suns'' tells the story of the Great Migration, the movement of Black Americans out of the
Southern United States
The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...
to the Midwest, Northeast, and West from approximately 1915 to 1970. Throughout the twentieth century, this exodus of almost six million people changed the face of America. Wilkerson interviewed more than a thousand people, and gained access to new data and official records, to write this account of how these American journeys unfolded, altering cities, America and the American people.
With historical detail, Wilkerson tells this story through the lives of three unique individuals: Ida Mae Gladney, who in 1937 left sharecropping and prejudice in Mississippi for Chicago, where she achieved quiet blue-collar success and, in old age, voted for Barack Obama when he ran for an Illinois Senate seat; sharp and quick-tempered George Starling, who in 1945 fled Florida for Harlem, where he endangered his job fighting for civil rights, saw his family fall, and finally found peace in God; and Robert Foster, who left Louisiana in 1953 to pursue a medical career, the personal physician to
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...
as part of a glitteringly successful medical career, which allowed him to purchase a grand home where he often threw exuberant parties.
Title
The title of the book derives from a poem by author Richard Wright, who himself moved from the South to Chicago, in the 1920s. The poem is excerpted here:
New York Times bestseller
''The New York Times'' Best Seller list is widely considered the preeminent list of best-selling books in the United States. John Bear, ''The #1 New York Times Best Seller: intriguing facts about the 484 books that have been #1 New York Times ...
(Nonfiction, 2010)
*
New York Times Best Books of the Year
''The New York Times Book Review'' (''NYTBR'') is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times'' in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely rea ...
(2010)
*
New York Times Notable Book of the Year
''The New York Times Book Review'' (''NYTBR'') is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times'' in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely rea ...
(Nonfiction, 2010)
*
Salon Book Award
''Salon'' is an American Progressivism in the United States, politically progressive/Modern liberalism in the United States, liberal news and opinion website created in 1995. It publishes articles on Politics of the United States, U.S. politics ...
(Nonfiction, 2010)
*
Publishers Weekly
''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...
Anisfield-Wolf Book Award The Anisfield-Wolf Book Award is an American literary award dedicated to honoring written works that make important contributions to the understanding of racism and the appreciation of the rich diversity of human culture. Established in 1935 by Clev ...
Mark Lynton History Prize The Mark Lynton History Prize is an annual award in the amount of $10,000 given to a book "of history, on any subject, that best combines intellectual or scholarly distinction with felicity of expression". The prize is one of three awards given as p ...
(2011)
*
The Hillman Prize
The Hillman Prize is a journalism award given out annually by The Sidney Hillman Foundation, named for noted American labor leader Sidney Hillman. It is given to "journalists, writers and public figures who pursue social justice and public poli ...
(2011) Hurston/Wright Award (2011)
''The Warmth of Other Suns'' was a ''New York Times'' and national best seller, garnering half a dozen juried prizes. The book was named to more than 30 Best of the Year lists, includin Amazon’s 5 Best Books of 2010 and Best of the Year lists in ''The New Yorker, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post,'' and ''The Boston Globe,'' among others.
Toni Morrison
Chloe Anthony Wofford Morrison (born Chloe Ardelia Wofford; February 18, 1931 – August 5, 2019), known as Toni Morrison, was an American novelist. Her first novel, ''The Bluest Eye'', was published in 1970. The critically acclaimed '' So ...
described the book as "profound, necessary, and a delight to read".
Tom Brokaw
Thomas John Brokaw (; born February 6, 1940) is an American retired network television journalist and author. He first served as the co-anchor of ''The Today Show'' from 1976 to 1981 with Jane Pauley, then as the anchor and managing editor of '' ...
praised it as "an epic for all Americans who want to understand the making of our modern nation". Critics acclaimed it as "a massive and masterly account" ''The New York Times Book Review,'' cover review ; "a deeply affecting, finely crafted and heroic book" ( The New Yorker '); "a brilliant and stirring epic" ( The Wall Street Journal ').
Editions
*''The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration'', Random House (hardcover, first),
*Paperback, electronic book, and audiobook editions
Adaptations
In 2012, Ballet Memphis commissioned a production inspired by ''The Warmth of Other Suns'' entitled "Party of the Year." The ballet, choreographed by Matthew Neenan, is about a birthday bash on Christmas 1970 and is based on characters in the book.
In 2015, a television adaptation of ''The Warmth of Other Suns'' was announced. Executive produced by
Shonda Rhimes
Shonda Lynn Rhimes (born January 13, 1970) is an American television screenwriter, producer, and author. She is best known as the showrunner—creator, head writer, and executive producer—of the television medical drama '' Grey's Anatomy'', ...
, the book was slated for a limited historical drama series. The project is currently in development with
Shondaland
Shondaland (stylized as ShondaLand from 2005 to 2016 and shondaland thereafter) is an American television production company founded by television writer/producer Shonda Rhimes. She founded it to be one of the production companies of her first s ...