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Sarah Broadhurst's view...
A hard-to-put-down, excellent read of slavery, harrowing but full of love and hope. The characters are very real and the writing is gripping. Based on fact, the actual document of ‘The Book of Negroes’, which is a list of all those who were taken by the British from America to Canada. This is the story of one such, Aminata, an intelligent, brave woman of immense strength and determination who follows her dream, whatever happens, to return to Africa. It won the 2008 Commonwealth Writer’s Prize. It is an epic, sweeping, magnificent tale, not to be missed.
Comparison: Andrea Levy, Toni Morrison, Khaled Hosseini.
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Synopsis
The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill
Abducted from her West African village at the age of eleven and sold as a slave in the American South, Aminata Diallo thinks only of freedom - and of finding her way home again. After escaping the plantation, torn from her husband and child, she passes through Manhattan in the chaos of the Revolutionary War, is shipped to Nova Scotia, and then joins a group of freed slaves on a harrowing return odyssey to Africa. Based on a true story, Lawrence Hill's epic novel spans three continents and six decades to bring to life a dark and shameful chapter in our history through the story of one brave and resourceful woman.
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Reviews
Lawrence Hill's hugely impressive historical work is completely engrossing and deserves a wide, international readership. Washington Post Wonderfully written...populated by vivid characters and rendered in fascinating detail. New York Times A masterpiece, daring and impressive in its geographic, historical and human reach, convincing in its narrative art and detail. The Globe and Mail Aminata is a heroic figure...you can never forget this character. She embeds herself in your heart. Toronto Star Richly meticulous recreation of late 18th century slave life...in its grand historical sweep, The Book of Negroes succeeds admirably in giving voice to a captive people who were for so long kept mute. Sunday Times A powerful indictment of the way in which so many innocent victims were robbed of everything dear to them. Yorkshire Evening Post Epic...a compelling tale well told...an important story to tell, one that gives a sense of individuality to people who might otherwise be drowned out in the tragic chorus of history. Times Literary Supplement The ebb and flow of Aminata's fortunes is gripping stuff,with the horrors inflicted upon her and her people brought to life almost matter-of-factly - and all the more enraging for that. Daily Mail Hill's novel is a beautiful, compelling artifice,spun from unspeakably savage facts...a fiction that faces the terrible truth about slavery. The Times An unforgettably vivid picture of the Atlantic slave trade...a remarkable achievement, which deservedly won the Commonwealth Writers
Prize. Spectator
[Hill] has an easy style and a fine sense of pace that make this a gripping, if horrifying story. Financial Times A colossal achievement...heartrending yet inspiring. Independent on Sunday Wears its thorough research lightly...fitting that this ambitious revision of slave narratives should have won the overall Commonwealth Writers
Prize in the year that the American electorate demolished one of its most persistent categories of exclusion. Independent
About the Author
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Lawrence Hill was born in Ontario, Canada of a black father and a white mother. He is
the author of a memoir, Black Berry, Sweet Juice, a work of non-fiction, The Deserter’s
Tale, and two other novels. His third novel, The Book of Negroes (published in the US as
Somebody Knows My Name) was a no.1 bestseller in Canada, and won the 2008
Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best Book.
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Book Info
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Categories
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Categories
Historical Fiction
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