The Book of Negroes - Lawrence Hill

⭐ 9.0/10

(Originally written by Magdalene)

Oof. As expected of a novel that revolves around the slave trade, this one hit hard and made me feel so angry. It was a bit different from most slave narratives I've read, as it follows a young girl from her capture in Africa to her time in Carolina and then Nova Scotia. She never actually worked on plantations nor was she involved in the underground railroad, which is what I usually find, but rather worked with indigo, learned to read and write, and then joined the abolitionists in London as an elderly woman. So it was good for me to read a variation from the norm.

Here are a few of my favourite aspects of the book:

1. Aminata never really conceived of herself as being "African," and never even really knew others thought about her land as being one place. She identified with her specific tribe and had no concept of her place as part of a continent until the white people forced her to. This exploration of identity was really fascinating.

2. I'm always a sucker for people improving their circumstances by learning to read. Aminata was lucky that she was naturally bright and picked up languages, but her drive to use words to help her understand the world was inspiring.

3. She meets lots of white people, and so the book really explores their justifications for slavery (which are gross, obvs), and the different ways some white people thought of themselves as good for treating slaves well, but still HAD slaves. Some of the white characters made attempts to be better, and a few were even okay! But in each case, Aminata was able to show them their faults, wherever they fell on the spectrum.

A heartbreaking read about a resilient, brave woman.