Reviews

Although it is not commonly known there was a significant Black population in England prior to the arrival of the Windrush generation. Among these were Black men who had been enslaved in America, fought on the British side during the American Revolution once the fighting ended. Readers won’t be surprised to learn that 18th century England was not exactly welcoming, nor that survival in London’s seedy underbelly was significantly harder for Black men than white. Incomparable World shines a light on this aspect of British history through the fictional experiences of Buckram, Georgie and William. The setting was vividly brought to life particularly the dark, difficult and threatening reality of many London streets. Real life events such as official attempts to remove Black residents from the city were effectively incorporated. I appreciated the nuanced way Martin explored his topic by giving his three characters different experiences and opinions over issues such as whether it was better to remain in England or go elsewhere and, if they had a choice, where should they go? Africa? Nova Scotia? Brazil. The class difference among Black society plus divides between those who were British born and those born in America were also highlighted. I especially enjoyed the sometimes snarky references to Charles Ignatius Sancho, whom I read about last year in Paterson Joseph’s debut novel. Incomparable World didn’t just focus on the difficulties faced by Buckram, William and Georgie, but also showed the genuine if sometimes frayed bonds between them. There were some poignant moments, none more so than Buckram’s astonishment at seeing Charlotte with her parents. He had never seen an adult Black person with their parents before since slavery so often separated Black families. The heist at the end of the novel seemed a little unlikely, yet it was hard not to cheer for its poetic justice/they had it coming elements. This book might not make my top ten of the year but I’m glad to have read it and will seek out more in the series of rediscovered works about Black Britain curated by none other than Bernardine Evaristo.

Content Warnings

mj_trearty's review

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2.5

I had high hopes going in to this book. Curated by Bernadine Evaristo who is amazing but I found this to be a confusing and poorly organised novel.

The topic was interesting and something that I had never read about before. But that is where the good things stop.

It felt very disjointed, I never got enough feel for any of the characters and the plot was a bit all over the place.

I have loved books that jump back and forward in time and was surprised that I could not get into the swing of this one.

At the end of the day I finished the book. It was ok. Disappointed.

rozereads's review against another edition

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dark informative slow-paced

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

3.25

dannyphantomsg1's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective 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

3.0

ginka's review against another edition

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dark informative slow-paced

3.0

estiejoy's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

bookofcinz's review

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3.0

In Bernardine Evaristo’s introduction to Incomparable World she said, “To my knowledge, Incomparable World, remains the only novel about this specific aspect of Black British History. Indeed, so few novels have been written about the Black presence in these shores before the twentieth century that the field is almost completely wide open for writers to colour in the empty space

Incomparable World was the second book I read in the series that Bernardine Evaristo curated for Black Britain: Writing Back I decided to go with this because of the premise. We meet three former enslaved persons, Buckram, Georgie and William who fought in the Revolutionary War against America. They were promised rewards once they returned to London but that did not happen. These three men returned to London in the 1780s with nothing and must now beg and scrape to make a living.

We are thrust into London life in the 1780s, it is chaotic, ugly, smelly, hard and constantly changing. As a Black Man starting from scratch, life is hard. Buckram is back from spending time in jail, he meets up with his ex-soldiers who seem to be making an ok life for themselves. Buckram struggles to get back on his feet. When William hatches a plan that will take them out of their misery, they all fall for it… will this plan work? How will it change their lives?

This is a tiny novel that packs in A LOT. It also references a place I cannot remember reading, especially from a Black perspective. I also cannot remember reading the experiences, albeit fiction, of Black man that fought in the war for Britain and what their lives turned out to be. I enjoyed getting the heads of the character and historical look at Britain at that time.

I do believe the book could have benefitted from a stronger edit, somethings were a bit over the place and at times I couldn’t place exactly where we were. I also think the plot was fast and then slow in some areas and then wrapped so quickly. I wanted a lot more from the character perspective, each seem to be so unique and I felt we didn’t dive into William’s character enough.

Overall, it is a solid read, just a few missing things which would have made it amazing.

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