Reviews with content warning for Violence - Washington Black

Listened to this one - tough to listen to the slave conditions on the plantation in Barbados. Interesting to learn about the scientific aspects, and also how affected Washington Black was by one dinnertime decision at his master's home. When loaned to the Master's brother, Christopher "Titch" Wash learns about a flying balloon, how to illustrate nature, how to read and write, and also what it is like to be used. Although Titch is an abolitionist, his ties to his older brother make for a difficult relationship. I have mixed feelings about this one.

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gracefulginger21's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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jesshindes's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional inspiring sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

Whoever wrote the back-cover blurb for 'Washington Black' did it no favours (in my opinion) by describing it as 'inspired by a true story'. It's a pretty outlandish tale - the protagonist goes from a Caribbean slave plantation, to the Canadian arctic, to London, to the Moroccan desert - and the whole time I was reading it at least 5% of my brain was trying to deduce which bits could possibly be the true ones. Had there really been a guy who helped his British scientist boss with an early hot air balloon prototype? Or maybe the bit where he invents the aquarium was the bit that was based on life? And then once I finished and let myself read an interview with the author, Esi Edugyan, it turned out that the inspiration was one specific nineteenth-century servant involved in the Tichbourne Trial, who had been enslaved in the Caribbean before becoming a family servant and moving to Australia. So that felt a bit anticlimactic!

This is a shame because I think Edugyan's point - what it would be like, how might it destablise you to grow up as a slave on a plantation knowing nothing other than that environment, never expecting or perhaps even imagining what a different future might be like, and then suddenly to be transplanted into quite a different environment on the other side of the world - is actually an interesting one. This question of identity and self is at the heart of the novel and our hero/narrator, Washington, is a sympathetic character, as he needs to be for the book to work. The landscapes and settings that Edugyan conjures are often absorbing and the first section of the novel on the slave plantation is bruising in its brutality. I did enjoy the book. But I think ultimately I found this less compelling than some of the other historical fiction I've been reading over the past couple of years. The variety of Black's journey is part of the point, but the book felt a little episodic to me and I wasn't totally sure what some of the key relationships were doing. The last section in particular felt a bit underpowered to me - I think the book lost some of its momentum as it went on. I like Edugyan's ambition, though, and I would (will) watch the TV adaptation that is apparently coming to screens at some point soon.

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steph_pollock's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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asourceoffiction's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Here's an example of a book that I finished, and immediately proceeded to try and find out where the inspiration came from. Washington Black is not a true story, but nor does it make up any of the horrors experienced by the slaves at Faith plantation. Out of respect Edugyan does not shy away from these realities, and tells them as they were recorded in history.

But after Faith plantation the story examines so much more about the lives of freed slaves (either by emancipation or by escape). Wash is a beguiling character, and it felt palpable how he can't trust even the kindest gestures from strangers because of how he was born and raised. It seems that he takes years to feel safe even in happy moments, which highlights how high a price he pays for his freedom.

The writing is raw and emotional, and veers often into the fantastical (hot air balloon journeys, voyages to the literal ends of the earth), with its characters as much as with the story. I'm not sure if it has a happy ending per se, more a determined one. But it was fascinating and immersive to read.

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skyisblue's review against another edition

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adventurous reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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funktious's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Not quite what I was expecting, but a good read nevertheless. I agree with other reviews that it feels like a book of two halves, that don't quite match in tone / pace. My favourite section was the one in Nova Scotia; I enjoyed the setting and the effect it had on Washington.

Also interesting to read a book with white abolitionists that also critiques them and their motives as well as the slavers. And the contrast between the white and non-white characters interested in science and living unconventional lives; how it's so much easier for one than the other, and made so much easier for one by the vastness of the slave trade and plantations providing the money.

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