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The Warmth of Other Suns

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 and winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award.[1][2]

The Warmth of Other Suns
Hardcover edition
AuthorIsabel Wilkerson
LanguageEnglish
SubjectThe Great Migration, Second Great Migration
GenreNon-fiction
PublisherRandom House
Publication date2010
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint, e-book, audiobook
Pages622
ISBN978-0-679-44432-9
OCLC741763572

Synopsis

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The Warmth of Other Suns tells the story of the Great Migration, the movement of Black Americans out of the Southern United States to the Midwest, Northeast, and West from approximately 1915 to 1970.[1][2] 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.

Wilkerson tells this story through the lives of three unique individuals--Ida Mae Gladney, George Starling, and Robert Foster--who fled the South eight years apart from each other. In 1937, Ida Mae Gladney left sharecropping and prejudice in Mississippi behind 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. In 1945, George Starling fled Florida for Harlem, where he endangered his job fighting for civil rights, saw his family fall, and finally found peace in God. And in 1953, Robert Foster left Louisiana to pursue a successful medical career. He eventually became the personal physician to Ray Charles, which allowed him to purchase a grand home where he often threw exuberant parties.

Title

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The title of the book derives from a poem by author Richard Wright, who moved from the South to Chicago in the 1920s.[3] The poem is excerpted here:

I was leaving the South
to fling myself into the unknown...
I was taking a part of the South
to transplant in alien soil,
to see if it could grow differently,
if it could drink of new and cool rains,
bend in strange winds,
respond to the warmth of other suns
and, perhaps, to bloom.

Awards and honors

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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, including The New York Times’ 10 Best Books of the Year,[7] Amazon’s 5 Best Books of 2010[8] and Best of the Year lists in The New Yorker, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, and The Boston Globe, among others. In 2024, the New York Times ranked it as the second best book of the 21st century thus far, and the best non-fiction book, in a list of 100 fiction and nonfiction titles.[6]

Toni Morrison described the book as "profound, necessary, and a delight to read". Tom Brokaw 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"[9]; "a deeply affecting, finely crafted and heroic book"[10]; "a brilliant and stirring epic"[11].

Editions

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  • The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration, Random House (hardcover, first), ISBN 978-0-679-44432-9
  • Paperback, electronic book, and audiobook editions

Adaptations

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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.[12]

In 2015, a television adaptation of The Warmth of Other Suns was announced.[13] Executive produced by Shonda Rhimes, the book was slated for a limited historical drama series. The project was reported to be in development with Shondaland, Rhimes' production company. As of 2026, there have been no additional updates.[14]

References

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  1. 1 2 "The Lives Gained by Fleeing Jim Crow" by Janet Maslin, New York Times Book Review, August 30, 2010
  2. 1 2 "Freedom Trains" by David Oshinsky, New York Times Book Review, September 2, 2010
  3. ↑ Burch, Audra D.S. (2011-11-20). "Leaving home, and finding it". Miami Herald. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
  4. ↑ "The 10 Best Nonfiction Books of the 2010s". Time. Retrieved 2020-10-19.
  5. ↑ Brown, DeNeen L. (October 25, 2013). "At D.C. gala, Esi Edugyan, Fredrick C. Harris win Hurston/Wright Legacy awards". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2024-07-01. Her book.. won the 2011 Hurston/Wright Award for nonfiction
  6. 1 2 "The 100 Best Books of the 21st Century". The New York Times. 8 July 2024. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
  7. ↑ "The 10 Best Books of 2010". The New York Times. 2010-12-01. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-06-15.
  8. ↑ "Amazon.com Editorial Team Unveils Best Books of 2010 List". Amazon. 2010-11-04. Retrieved 2026-06-15.
  9. ↑ Oshinsky, David (2010-09-02). "Freedom Trains". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-06-15.
  10. ↑ Lepore, Jill (2010-08-30). "The Uprooted". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved 2026-06-15.
  11. ↑ Stauffer, John (2010-09-03). "Book Review: The Warmth of Other Suns; Fly Away". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2026-06-15.
  12. ↑ Macaulay, Alastair (2012-10-30). "Sometimes a Great Tribute Has Nothing to Do With the Subject (Published 2012)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-11-13.
  13. ↑ Littleton, Cynthia (2015-05-05). "Dee Rees, Shonda Rhimes Developing Historical Drama 'Warmth of Other Suns' For FX". Variety. Retrieved 2020-11-13.
  14. ↑ "A Peek Inside Shondaland's Development Pipeline: What's Next | Hollywood Reporter". www.hollywoodreporter.com. 21 October 2020. Retrieved 2020-11-13.
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