Add BookmarkThe Book of Negroes
I simply loved this book. Writtenfrom the perspective of an 11 year old girl from Africa who was stolen with her family and forced onto slave ships to America.
Most people on those horrendous ships died, but Aminata survived and this is her story...read this book, if you read no other book this year.
Here's a review from Publisher's Weekly
Stunning, wrenching and inspiring, the fourth novel by Canadian novelist, Lawrence Hill (Any Known Blood) spans the life of Aminata Diallo, born in... (show more)
I simply loved this book. Writtenfrom the perspective of an 11 year old girl from Africa who was stolen with her family and forced onto slave ships to America.
Most people on those horrendous ships died, but Aminata survived and this is her story...read this book, if you read no other book this year.
Here's a review from Publisher's Weekly
Stunning, wrenching and inspiring, the fourth novel by Canadian novelist, Lawrence Hill (Any Known Blood) spans the life of Aminata Diallo, born in Bayo, West Africa, in 1745.
The novel opens in 1802, as Aminata is wooed in London to the cause of British abolitionists, and begins reflecting on her life. Kidnapped at the age of 11 by British slavers, Aminata survives the Middle Passage and is reunited in South Carolina with Chekura, a boy from a village near hers.
Her story gets entwined with his, and with those of her owners: nasty indigo producer Robinson Appleby and, later, Jewish duty inspector Solomon Lindo. During her long life of struggle, she does what she can to free herself and others from slavery, including learning to read and teaching others to, and befriending anyone who can help her, black or white.
Hill handles the pacing and tension masterfully, particularly during the beginnings of the American revolution, when the British promise to free Blacks who fight for the British: Aminata's related, eventful travels to Nova Scotia and Sierra Leone follow. In depicting a woman who survives history's most trying conditions through force of intelligence and personality, Hill's book is a harrowing, breathtaking tour de force.
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I adored this book. It was very well written and proved to be an emotional read for me. The life of the main character was presented in such a matter-of-fact way that I often forgot that she was a fictional...in fact I loved the main character so much I wished that she was real. I would highly recommend this book and be very surprised to hear someone say that they didn't like it! This book would have to be in my Top 5 of all time! Hard to believe that a book about such hardship and cruel... (show more)
I adored this book. It was very well written and proved to be an emotional read for me. The life of the main character was presented in such a matter-of-fact way that I often forgot that she was a fictional...in fact I loved the main character so much I wished that she was real. I would highly recommend this book and be very surprised to hear someone say that they didn't like it! This book would have to be in my Top 5 of all time! Hard to believe that a book about such hardship and cruelty can somehow be so beautiful...and all because of the courage of the main character.
I could not put this book down even when I wanted to.
I praise the author for the research that he did and that he put into this book. SIMPLY AMAZING!!! (show less)Already read
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This was a wonderful book. Aminata is a sympathetic heroine (written splendidly by a man!), and her story is one that fascinates. The author is Canadian, but as Aminata is of a "travelling people", she lives in Africa, South Carolina, New York, Nova Scotia, Africa (again), and London... perhaps this made the book -written in first person- seem even more like an actual biography?
The brutalities suffered by Aminata are presented in a matter-of-fact way that is both horrific and... (show more)
This was a wonderful book. Aminata is a sympathetic heroine (written splendidly by a man!), and her story is one that fascinates. The author is Canadian, but as Aminata is of a "travelling people", she lives in Africa, South Carolina, New York, Nova Scotia, Africa (again), and London... perhaps this made the book -written in first person- seem even more like an actual biography?
The brutalities suffered by Aminata are presented in a matter-of-fact way that is both horrific and real. Hill tempers the tragedies of Aminata's life with her quiet triumphs: she never lets her captors take her humanity or dignity, despite the cruel and painful things they do to her. Hill has also managed to handle her captors in a sensitive manner: we can see the goodness in the white people who are trying to combat the injustices of slavery, but we (along with Aminata) can also see how they too are trapped by the societal expectations of the era.
Books that win awards are not always this readable: the novel is a fresh take on a very difficult part of history, and it truly is very hard to put down. (show less)
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This is must-read for all Canadians, especially from Nova Scotia. I hate that people are prejudiced against African Nova Scotians already. When I arrived in this province I just could not believe their attitudes. What century are we living in? They way blacks were treated makes me sick to my stomach, what does colour of the skin have anything to do with pride, integrity and human behaviour? I so loved this book, it reinforced what my beliefs have always been. God created everyone equal.
Facebook User 19 days ago -
This was a wonderfully written journey, and a tale that was so vivid, it's hard to remember that it's fiction. Aminata is the kind of girl and woman we all hope to be: bright, determined, strong-willed and generous. Her only fault may be in trying to see the best in people.
Shelley Burgoyne 2 months ago
It's painful without wallowing in it, inspiring without being saccharine and expansive without ever lingering too long. Brilliantly written and a pleasure to read.
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