A review by franalibi
Blonde Roots by Bernardine Evaristo

4.0

Having read Girl, Woman, Other, I really wanted to read more of Bernadine Evaristo’s books! And I’m starting with Blonde Roots.

This is a story turned on its head with blaks overruling and enslaving the whytes, and taking them from their home of England/Europa to serve them and work on plantations in the U.K of Ambrossa.

It’s a powerful and educational book that sheds a light on the slave trade. I’ve only ever learned about slavery in school, and I think it’s important to have a deeper understanding of what black people went through. Evaristo was very clever to make white people the slaves and felt like a more adult nod to Noughts and Crosses.

With the story itself, it mainly follows Doris who was kidnapped to be a slave at a young age and dreams of escape. We follow her from kidnap, to the treacherous journey on the ship and bought by a family who give her another name and set her to work. You root for her escape and freedom from slavery, but all with the thought and understanding that this really happened and it’s what black people went through.

I highly recommend this book if you want to read more books from black authors and educate yourself in the process!