A review by black_girl_reading
The Hanging of Angélique: The Untold Story of Canadian Slavery and the Burning of Old Montréal by Afua Cooper

4.0

Broadly about the history of slavery in Canada, which spanned some 206 years, this book personalizes this narrative through the reconstruction of the life and hanging of the slave Angelique, who is believed to have set the fire that burned down Old Montreal. This book was dark, in particular the very detailed description of the torture applied to Angelique to force a confession; the French had an entirely bureaucratized system of torture that they used in criminal investigations - it was horrific. This book is powerful and important. Here’s the thing. I think it’s actually two books. One is a text on the history of slavery in Canada. The other would be a fictionalized account of the hanging of Angelique. Here is my reasoning. Much is known about so many people in the book, the history of slavery, the judicial system, all of it. Almost nothing is known of Angelique. What she looked like, what she thought, who she was as a person. And because of that, the book was wildly unbalanced, with the dry facts dominating the narrative, and the majority of Angelique’s story being primarily speculative and unresolved. I would be here for both books, but found myself truly craving a book that imagines the badassery of a woman that burnt down an entire city in her effort to escape slavery - an extraordinary act of resistance if there ever was one.