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The Life and Adventures of Jonathan Jefferson Whitlaw

The Life and Adventures of Jonathan Jefferson Whitlaw

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Genre(s): ,

Narrators: , , , , , , , ,

Number of Chapters: 54

Length: 17 hours and 26 minutes

Language: English

The novel begins with the arrival of a family staking a claim in the black delta of the Deep South. Whitlaw is a brutish sort who bullies his cowering wife into working herself to death. Shortly after giving birth to a strapping man-child, the wife, Portia, dutifully dies. Her sister-in-law, Clio, takes over the responsibilities of raising the young Whitlaw and tending to every need and whim of her brother. Jonathan Jefferson grows up to be shrewd, conniving, and sly, driven – as Trollope thought most Americans were – by a compulsion for financial success. He and his father build up a prosperous store, selling to boats coming down the Mississippi. Jonathan meets Colonel Dart on one of his river trips, who decides to mentor him into becoming his personal confidential clerk. Translated, this means that Jonathan will be expected to spy on the slaves to make sure that they are not slacking, stealing, or conspiring to murder the Dart family. Once the Whitlaws are resuscitated in an area called Mount Etna, near Natchez, they meet the Steinmark family. These are immigrants from Bavaria who are in Trollope’s story as exemplars of farmers who can run a large, successful operation without slaves. The Whitlaws look down on them because according to their code, having slaves is a status symbol. To the Steinmarks, having slaves is an abomination against God, and at risk to their own lives, they give sanctuary to slave refugees.Jonathan’s philosophy is that in America, every man should be free to do whatever he pleases. Accordingly, he is quite the hedonist. Of course, slaves are not considered men, and white women are not considered a part of mankind. He is rather astounded then when Steinmark’s only daughter, Lotte, refuses to marry him. Piqued, he intends to take by force Phebe, an attractive, light-skinned, devoutly religious young slave. His efforts are thwarted by Old Juno, the ancient slave matriarch of the plantation. She is able to control Whitlaw through his terror of her supernatural powers. (Summary by Michele Eaton)

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Chapter 1 (Anna Simon)
Chapter 2 (Ralph Crown)
Chapter 3 (Ralph Crown)
Chapter 4 (Lynne T)
Chapter 5 (Lynne T)
Chapter 6 (MaryAnn)
Chapter 7 (KHand)
Chapter 8 (KHand)
Chapter 9 (Lynne T)
Chapter 10 (Ralph Crown)
Chapter 11 (Julia Niedermaier)
Chapter 12 (Lynne T)
Chapter 13 (KHand)
Chapter 14 (KHand)
Chapter 15 (KHand)
Chapter 16 (Lynne T)
Chapter 17 (Soumen Barua)
Chapter 18 (KHand)
Chapter 19 (KHand)
Chapter 20 (KHand)
Chapter 21 (Anna Simon)
Chapter 22 (Michele Eaton)
Chapter 23 (Lynne T)
Chapter 24 (Lynne T)
Chapter 25 (Lynne T)
Chapter 26 (Michele Eaton)
Chapter 27 (Michele Eaton)
Chapter 28 (Michele Eaton)
Chapter 29 (Michele Eaton)
Chapter 30 (Michele Eaton)
Chapter 31 (Lynne T)
Chapter 32 (Lynne T)
Chapter 33 (Michele Eaton)
Chapter 34 (Michele Eaton)
Chapter 35 (Michele Eaton)
Chapter 36 (Michele Eaton)
Chapter 37 (Michele Eaton)
Chapter 38 (Michele Eaton)
Chapter 39 (Michele Eaton)
Chapter 40 (Michele Eaton)
Chapter 41 (Michele Eaton)
Chapter 42 (Lynne T)
Chapter 43 (Lynne T)
Chapter 44 (Michele Eaton)
Chapter 45 (Michele Eaton)
Chapter 46 (Michele Eaton)
Chapter 47 (Michele Eaton)
Chapter 48 (Michele Eaton)
Chapter 49 (Michele Eaton)
Chapter 50 (Michele Eaton)
Chapter 51 (Mark Chulsky)
Chapter 52 (Mark Chulsky)
Chapter 53 (Michele Eaton)
Chapter 54 (Michele Eaton)
The audiobook The Life and Adventures of Jonathan Jefferson Whitlaw falls under the genres of , . It is written by .