All Aunt Hagar's Children (2006) is a collection of short stories by African-American author Edward P. Jones; it was his first book after winning the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for The Known World. The collection of 14 stories centers on African Americans in Washington D.C. during the 20th century. The stories can be broken down by how the characters suffer burdens from families, society, and themselves. "Each story traces a journey--planned or unplanned, taken or failed--and an obvious root/route symbolism runs throughout the collection." Jones is noted for writing long short stories and these are no exception, they are sometimes called "novelistic", characters are fully fleshed out. The stories of his first and third book are connected. As Neely Tucker says:

Reception

In Bookmarks November/December 2006 issue, a magazine that aggregates critic reviews of books, the book received a (4.5 out of 5) with the critical summary stating, "Pulitzer Prize–winning author Edward P. Jones (The Known World, Nov/Dec 2003) once again unfurls his extraordinary literary talent on the world". On BookBrowse, the book received a from "Critics' Consensus" and for the media reviews on a rating scale out of five: The Washington Post, Booklist, Kirkus Reviews, and Publishers Weekly reviews under five. All Aunt Hagar's Children won the 2007 Hurston/Wright Legacy Award. In 2024, it was ranked #70 on the New York Times list of best 100 books of the 21st century.

Footnotes