Chariot on the Mountain, Jack Ford
Chariot on the Mountain, Jack Ford
List: $24.99 | Sale: $17.50
Club: $12.49

Chariot on the Mountain

Author: Jack Ford

Narrator: Allyson Johnson

Unabridged: 8 hr 40 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 08/07/2018


Synopsis

Two decades before the Civil War, a middle-class farmer named Samuel Maddox lies on his deathbed. Elsewhere in his Virginia home, a young woman named Kitty knows her life is about to change. She is one of the Maddox family's slaves—and Samuel's biological daughter. When Samuel's wife, Mary, inherits her husband’s property, she will own Kitty, too, along with Kitty's three small children.

Already in her fifties and with no children of her own, Mary Maddox has struggled to accept her husband's daughter, a strong-willed, confident, educated woman who works in the house and has been treated more like family than slave. After Samuel's death, Mary decides to grant Kitty and her children their freedom, and travels with them to Pennsylvania, where she will file papers declaring Kitty's emancipation. Helped on their perilous flight by Quaker families along the Underground Railroad, they finally reach the free state. But Kitty is not yet safe.

Dragged back to Virginia by a gang of slave catchers led by Samuel's own nephew, who is determined to sell her and her children, Kitty takes a defiant step: charging the younger Maddox with kidnapping and assault. The sensational trial that follows will decide the fate of Kitty and her children.

About Jack Ford

Jack Ford has been an American news personality for over two decades. Following his early career as a prominent trial attorney, he has worked as an anchor/correspondent for Court TV, NBC News, ABC News, and CBS News. He has received two Emmy Awards, a Peabody Award, an American Radio and Television Award, a National Headliner Award, and the March of Dimes FDR Award. A graduate of Yale University and the Fordham University School of Law, he is a visiting lecturer at Yale, NYU, and the University of Virginia, teaching a seminar on famous trials.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Angela M on July 16, 2018

4.5 stars I’ve mentioned before in my reviews about how much I enjoy knowing the inspiration for a story and Jack Ford did not disappoint me as he wonderfully describes in his note at the end of this book how Kitty Payne’s story first came to him. Ford’s affinity for courthouses is natural given his......more

Goodreads review by Jennifer ~ TarHeelReader on July 29, 2018

4 brilliant stars to Chariot on the Mountain! ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ I first heard about this book on The View, as it was a pick from one of the hosts for summer reading. Then, I saw a highly rated review from Angela M. and knew I needed to pick this one up, too. Historical fiction is one of my favorite genres......more

Goodreads review by Canadian Jen on December 28, 2018

The chase is on. What a fabulous read to close out the year. My first Ford - and not the car- so I will be inclined to try another. Kitty is a mulatto skinned slave on the run With her mistress who is trying to repent for the wrongs of having slaves and honouring her deceased husband’s last wish: to f......more

Goodreads review by Jenny on August 17, 2018

Once in awhile, you read a book that you fall in love with. It becomes your "go-to or must-read" recommendation and the one that you tell all your friends to read. It is definitely your book club pick that month. We've all read those books and each year begins the search for another one, But how abou......more

Goodreads review by Sharon on August 20, 2018

Firstly my sincere thanks to Kensington Books and NetGalley for the opportunity of reading the remarkable Chariot on the Mountain by Jack Ford.    Set on  a farm in Rappahannock County, Virginia, Samuel Maddox has a dying wish.     On his deathbed he asks his wife Mary to consider setting free Kitty......more