The economy hung like a cloud over the 59th annual National Book Awards. Barack Obama was the silver lining.

Annette Gordon-Reed won the National Book Award for nonfiction for ?The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family,? while Peter Matthiessen won the fiction award for ?Shadow Country.?

A book about a slave family with ties to U.S. President Thomas Jefferson and novel about a notorious Florida outlaw were among the winners at America's 59th annual National Book Awards on Wednesday.

NEW YORK, Nov. 20 (UPI) -- The National Book Award for non-fiction was bestowed on Annette Gordon-Reed in New York Wednesday night for her book, "The Hemingses of Monticello."

Judges for the National Book Awards honored a comeback Wednesday night, giving the fiction award to Peter Matthiessen's "Shadow Country," a revision of a trilogy of novels from the 1990s. The 81-year-old last won a National Book Award 30 years ago.

Nov. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Two weeks after Barack Obama’s barrier-breaking election, Annette Gordon-Reed won the $10,000 National Book Award for nonfiction with “The Hemingses of Monticello” (Norton), a history of the family of Sally Hemings, Thomas Jefferson’s slave and the mother of several of his children.

The publishing industry will attempt a break from the bad news of the marketplace and cheer for literature at the 59th annual National Book Awards.

The economy hung like a cloud over the 59th annual National Book Awards.