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A review by stephaniekane
Blonde Roots by Bernardine Evaristo
challenging
dark
funny
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Blonde Roots by Bernardine Evaristo asks the history-alternating question: What if the transatlantic slave trade had been reversed? What if an imperialistic African nation stole and enslaved Europeans, rather than vice versa?
The story follows Doris, a woman stolen from an English town and brought to slavery in Londolo, the fictional heart of the Great Ambossan empire (and a clear parody of London and Great Britain) as she navigates life on a foreign continent, completely dehumanized and stripped of her rights, and away from everyone and everything she's known and loved. Part way through, it shifts perspectives to her owner, and becomes a biting and spot-on satire of Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness.
Evaristo's parody does more than point out the inherent absurdity of racism and white supremacy as the Black characters use their own versions of eugenics, pseudo-science, and cultural biases to explain away why enslaving caucasians is acceptable. It highlights everything from the hypocrisy of racism to how beauty standards and cultural hierarchies have been shaped by hundreds of years of racism. But, most importantly, Blonde Roots forces the white reader to imagine a world where their ancestors were enslaved and oppressed due to the color of their skin and how those repercussions would reverberate for generations to come.
If you like revisionist history and speculative fiction (The Yiddish Policeman's Union by Michael Chabon, The Power by Naomi Alderman, The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood) or are interested in books that explore slavery without being straight forward historical fiction (Kindred by Octavia Butler) or want to engage in anti-racist reading but struggle with non-fiction texts, I encourage you to pick up this book ASAP.
The story follows Doris, a woman stolen from an English town and brought to slavery in Londolo, the fictional heart of the Great Ambossan empire (and a clear parody of London and Great Britain) as she navigates life on a foreign continent, completely dehumanized and stripped of her rights, and away from everyone and everything she's known and loved. Part way through, it shifts perspectives to her owner, and becomes a biting and spot-on satire of Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness.
Evaristo's parody does more than point out the inherent absurdity of racism and white supremacy as the Black characters use their own versions of eugenics, pseudo-science, and cultural biases to explain away why enslaving caucasians is acceptable. It highlights everything from the hypocrisy of racism to how beauty standards and cultural hierarchies have been shaped by hundreds of years of racism. But, most importantly, Blonde Roots forces the white reader to imagine a world where their ancestors were enslaved and oppressed due to the color of their skin and how those repercussions would reverberate for generations to come.
If you like revisionist history and speculative fiction (The Yiddish Policeman's Union by Michael Chabon, The Power by Naomi Alderman, The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood) or are interested in books that explore slavery without being straight forward historical fiction (Kindred by Octavia Butler) or want to engage in anti-racist reading but struggle with non-fiction texts, I encourage you to pick up this book ASAP.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape and Violence