Night Flyer

Reviews

“Stellar . . . spectacular . . . Night Flyer is a triumph of Black women’s studies, a powerful representation of what Black studies—an interdisciplinary field ranging far wider than history alone — can offer our understanding of the past. Read it to learn about Tubman. Read it to see what Black women’s studies can do.” —Nell Irvin Painter, The Washington Post

“Groundbreaking...Through Tiya Miles’ meticulous research and an unwavering focus on Tubman’s humanity, Night Flyer has transformed a fantastical figure from a bygone time into an accessible, modern-day inspiration.” —The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

“In Night Flyer, Miles . . . resurrects Tubman’s spiritual life, considering her alongside not only intellectuals such as Frederick Douglass but also Black evangelists of the era. The little we know about Tubman’s motivations comes robed in Scripture and prayer—blinding garments for modern eyes, but Miles helps us see.” —The New Yorker, Best Books of the Week

“In her deep examination of the world in which Tubman lived, Miles winds through the elusive history and the awesome mythology to find a real life figure more extraordinary than we ever knew before.” —CBS Sunday Morning

“[Night Flyer], like All That She Carried, is not an academic study of nineteenth-century Black history but a moving account of Tubman’s intellectual life . . . It reminds us of the redemptive possibilities of patriotism and religious belief, ideologies that today are too often associated with the reactionary rather than the radical.” —The New Yorker

“Well-researched and endlessly readable, Night Flyer invites readers to experience the many sides of Harriet Tubman, most of which we’ve not fully understood until now. Miles focuses on her mysticism, knowledge of the natural world and boundless dedication to truth and liberation.” —Ms. Magazine (Best Books of June)

“The lyrical biography we’ll need before Tubman — already more myth than person — begins gracing the $20 bill, starting in 2030.” —The Chicago Tribune

“This book finds beauty in history's unanswerable questions.” —Minneapolis Star-Tribune

“Night Flyer adds needed texture to Tubman’s historical caricature.” —Boston Globe

“An innovative vision … Through Tiya Miles’ meticulous research and an unwavering focus on Tubman’s humanity, Night Flyer has transformed a fantastical figure from a bygone time into an accessible, modern-day inspiration.” —Atlanta Journal Constitution
 
“With originality and flair, [Miles] sheds new light on Tubman’s remarkable story by setting her deeply in the context of her faith and within the natural world that offered her shelter and succour. … Miles brings Tubman to vivid and rounded life.” —Financial Times

“Miles is one of our greatest living historians and a beautiful writer to boot . . . As in all her work, Miles fleshes out the complexity, humanity, and social and emotional world of her subject.” —The Millions, Most Anticipated

“A world-building enterprise, with a novel’s sensitivity and a poet’s sensibility rooted both in Tubman’s daily life and in her more mystical inclinations.” —American Scholar

“In her trademark deeply researched, thoughtful and exquisite prose, Miles successfully avoids popular depictions of Tubman as a superwoman ‘prepackaged’ . . . With Night Flyer, Tiya Miles seems to transmit the weight of her subject’s hand and heart.” —Bookpage (starred review)

“Miles goes beyond standard biographies by foregrounding two aspects of Tubman’s life that have rarely been analyzed together: her religious faith and her deep understanding of ecology . . . Miles’ thoughtful engagement with Tubman’s contemporaries allows her to place the icon within a proud lineage of Black female mystics and preachers. . . . A truly unique analysis.” —Booklist
 
“National Book Award winner Miles chronicles and contextualizes Tubman’s work to lead enslaved people to freedom in the North, spotlighting her subject’s spiritual conviction and naturalistic know-how. . . . A notable, discerning contribution to the understanding of an American legend.” —Kirkus

“Drawing on and extending accounts of Harriet Tubman’s life and memories, Tiya Miles’s Night Flyer situates Tubman as a thinker, dreamer, and doer. An intellectual, physical, and spiritual force embedded in multiple worlds—ecological, geographical, familial, dream, and spiritual—acquiring and acting on knowledge drawn from each of them. Beautifully conceived and written, Night Flyer speaks powerfully of the worlds Tubman navigated and refused, and to our own perilous times.” —Christina Sharpe, author of Ordinary Notes

“Night Flyer anchors Harriet Tubman to the faith and ferocity that has made her beloved by generations of Americans. Tiya Miles continues to captivate readers with her luminous prose, her riveting attention to detail, and her continuing genius to bring the past to life. With imaginative engagement, she has offered us a window onto the world inhabited by Tubman and her people, and its crucial legacy for us today.” —Catherine Clinton, author of Harriet Tubman: The Road to Freedom

“Transcending the boundaries of literary genre and academic discipline, Miles provides a brilliant meditation on the many worlds of Harriet Tubman—environmental, social, interior. Night Flyer is also a lyrical praise song to Tubman and those Black women preachers who melded religious faith with physical courage to fight for the liberation of Black bodies, minds, and spirits. A stunning achievement.” —Jacqueline Jones, author of No Right to an Honest Living: The Struggles of Boston’s Black Workers in the Civil War Era Expand reviews