Magnificently written by Esi Edugyan, this is an adventure story, albeit a highly unlikely one. Just suspend your sense of reality, and go along for the magical ride. And what a ride it is!
George Washington Black (nicknamed Wash), age 10 or 11 (he doesn't really know), is
…more a slave on a sugar cane plantation in Barbados, enduring the evil brutality of such an existence when he is plucked from the cruel, low life of a field hand to become the manservant of Christopher Wilde, the sadistic master's brother, who is visiting from England and abhors the idea of slavery. Wilde is a scientist with an affinity for flying machines. When Wash is falsely accused of murder, he and Wilde flee the island in a way unheard of for 1832 and so begins the implausible but highly entertaining escapades of George Washington Black: first on the open seas and then in Virginia, the Arctic, Nova Scotia, England, the Netherlands, and Morocco.
But this is more than a mere adventure story. It is also the story of a child. A slave. It is the story of cruelty and compassion, of fear and friendship. And most of all, it is the story of what it truly means to find freedom—even with all the limitations and restrictions society places on each of us. While the first half of the book is an adventure of place and travel, the second half is an adventure of the mind and soul as Wash tries to assimilate and understand all that has happened to him in his short life.
The story, which takes place from 1830 to 1836 when Wash is a child and teenager, is written in the first person by a grown-up Wash in a highly-educated, sophisticated voice, so that gives us a clue as to how his life evolves. It is a deep, psychological study of the injustice of slavery and the impossibility of true freedom.
It is a study of life and what it means to find one's true identity and then to love, trust, and become fully human—and, quite possibly, be happy. (less)
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