'A beautiful, compelling artifice, spun from unspeakably savage facts . . . a fiction that faces the terrible truth about slavery' The Times
WINNER OF THE COMMONWEALTH PRIZE FOR FICTION
Based on a true story, Lawrence Hill's epic novel spans three continents and six decades to bring to life a dark and shameful chapter in our history through the story of one brave and resourceful woman.
Abducted from her West African village at the age of eleven and sold as a slave in the American South, Aminata Diallo thinks only of freedom - and of finding her way home again.
After escaping the plantation, torn from her husband and child, she passes through Manhattan in the chaos of the Revolutionary War, is shipped to Nova Scotia, and then joins a group of freed slaves on a harrowing return odyssey to Africa.
What readers are saying:
***** 'Beautifully written ... an enlightening read'
***** 'Since reading, this has become my favourite book ever'
***** 'A powerful historical account of an incredible woman's journey'
Lawrence Hill was born in Ontario, Canada of a black father and a white mother. He is the author of a memoir, Black Berry, Sweet Juice, a work of non-fiction, The Deserter's Tale, and two other novels. His third novel, The Book of Negroes (published in the US as Somebody Knows My Name) was a no.1 bestseller in Canada, and won the 2008 Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best Book.
Title: The Book of Negroes
Author: Lawrence Hill
ISBN: 9780552775489
Binding:
Publisher: Transworld Publishers Ltd
Publication Date: 2010-04-01
Number of Pages: 512
Weight: 0.3403 kg
Hill's novel is a beautiful, compelling artifice, spun from unspeakably savage facts.... a fiction that faces the terrible truth about slavery * The Times *
A colossal achievement... heartrending yet inspiring * Independent on Sunday *
The ebb and flow of Aminata's fortunes is gripping stuff, with the horrors inflicted upon her and her people brought to life almost matter-of-factly - and all the more enraging for that * Daily Mail *
Richly meticulous recreation of late 18th century slave life... in its grand historical sweep, The Book of Negroes succeeds admirably in giving voice to a captive people who were for so long kept mute -- Stephen Amidon * The Sunday Times *
Wears its thorough research lightly... fitting that this ambitious revision of slave narratives should have won the overall Commonwealth Writers' Prize in the year that the American electorate demolished one of its most persistent categories of exclusion * Independent *