mctmama's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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
3.0
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Violence, Racism, Slavery, and Racial slurs
busyblackbookworm's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.25
Washington Black is quite the engaging read. It follows a young enslaved boy by the name of George Washington Black (”Wash”), whose brutal enslaver in Barbados hands him over to the latter’s eccentric and seemingly kindly inventor and abolitionist brother Titch. Wash accompanies Titch on his often half-baked scientific endeavors, and over the course of their relationship begins to find himself having a more hopeful outlook on life. But when Wash is falsely implicated in a man’s death, he must flee Barbados.
I found this book’s exploration of enslavement, racial dynamics, and agency so interesting. While at first I was wary of this book playing into the false and harmful “kindly master” narrative, Edugyan highlights the many ways in which white abolitionists viewed enslaved people as simply another Christian cause to pat themselves on the backs about. It troubles the narrative that many kids were fed in history class: that all white abolitionists were goodly humans who genuinely cared for Black people and viewed us as their equals. And I think there’s an interesting metaphor underlying a lot of this tale (I won’t spoil it here but if you’ve read it I’d love to hear your thoughts—DM me lol).
There were times at which I wished Wash’s love interest, who appears later on in the book, was more fleshed out, since she acts as an interesting foil to Wash but we only see very small snippets of her character. And sometimes I felt that Wash’s refusal to believe that certain white abolitionists were not all that they seemed a bit hard to believe, considering how bright Wash was (but, of course, we know that often it is hard to distance oneself from whiteness).
Anyway, all this is to say that I really liked this one and am glad I finally picked it up! I’d been intrigued by this one for a while, particularly since it was shortlisted for the 2018 Booker Prize. If you’re looking to get into historical fiction, this might be a good place to start.
I found this book’s exploration of enslavement, racial dynamics, and agency so interesting. While at first I was wary of this book playing into the false and harmful “kindly master” narrative, Edugyan highlights the many ways in which white abolitionists viewed enslaved people as simply another Christian cause to pat themselves on the backs about. It troubles the narrative that many kids were fed in history class: that all white abolitionists were goodly humans who genuinely cared for Black people and viewed us as their equals. And I think there’s an interesting metaphor underlying a lot of this tale (I won’t spoil it here but if you’ve read it I’d love to hear your thoughts—DM me lol).
There were times at which I wished Wash’s love interest, who appears later on in the book, was more fleshed out, since she acts as an interesting foil to Wash but we only see very small snippets of her character. And sometimes I felt that Wash’s refusal to believe that certain white abolitionists were not all that they seemed a bit hard to believe, considering how bright Wash was (but, of course, we know that often it is hard to distance oneself from whiteness).
Anyway, all this is to say that I really liked this one and am glad I finally picked it up! I’d been intrigued by this one for a while, particularly since it was shortlisted for the 2018 Booker Prize. If you’re looking to get into historical fiction, this might be a good place to start.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Racism, Slavery, and Suicide
Moderate: Ableism
gracefulginger21's review against another edition
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, and Slavery
flowerowl's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Loved the beginning, it just crabs you and takes you in. Loved the way it every thing was told/expressed when Washington was a child. But them later on, around the trip in the ice, the writing kind of lost. the disappearing didn't grasp me, it did not flow nicely with all the rest, the dead of the Father who was being sort of a jerk moved me more. And so because of that I felt like I could not grasp the story anymore as in the beginning, which made the ending even more unsatisfactory and confusing. But maybe there is something I'm not getting (then please explain it to me). Maybe the feelings of not grasping it is exactly what your meant to feel, for it is what Washington feels the longer he lives; and if that is the case, then I (still) did not like that feeling, but then Esi Edugyan is also a really good writer!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Classism, Deportation, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Suicide, Abandonment, Colonisation, Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Murder
jesshindes's review against another edition
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Suicide, Slavery, Racism, Sexual assault, and Torture
steph_pollock's review against another edition
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Slavery, and Violence
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Death
asourceoffiction's review against another edition
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Fire/Fire injury, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Suicide, and Death
Moderate: Rape
t_tian's review against another edition
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
Content Warnings
Minor: Violence, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Racism
funktious's review against another edition
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicide
Minor: Sexual violence and Rape
janelleaimi's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Slavery, Suicide, Physical abuse, and Racial slurs