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A review by serendipitysbooks
The Secret Diaries of Charles Ignatius Sancho by Paterson Joseph
emotional
informative
reflective
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
4.0
The Secret Diaries of Charles Ignatius Sancho is a work of historical fiction based on the life of a formerly enslaved man who became a composer, abolitionist and the first Black man to vote in Britain. The conceit of the book is that it is composed of his diaries along with explanatory letters to his youngest son. In many ways the novel has a Dickensian flavour. Sancho after all was a poor orphan boy trying to survive in London but with the added difficulty of being Black and having to worry about unscrupulous slave catchers. In style too this book reads like a classic which adds to the feeling of authenticity, as if you are reading Sancho’s actual diary and correspondence as written in the eighteenth century.
Overall I found myself more invested in Sancho’s younger years, particularly his escape from the home of the three elderly women who treated him like a pet and then imprisoned him when they discovered he’d secretly learnt to read and write, than in his latter years. I felt that I was being shown the drama as it happened and was almost experiencing it alongside him. As Sancho got older I felt I was being told not shown about his life so felt a step removed. I’m unsure about the inclusion of letters from his eventual wife when she was in Barbados since they took the focus away from Sancho, although they did highlight his great fear. Despite Sancho’s hardships this book is not a heavy read. That’s because of his personality, or at least the way it is depicted in this book. He comes across as a rancoteur, somebody who doesn’t always take himself too seriously, is warm-hearted and enjoys life. Yet he’s always aware of his vulnerability as a Black man, and safety and freedom, for him, his family and other Blacks, are always underlying concerns. The horrors of plantation slavery may not have occurred in England itself. Yet, as highlighted in this book, Blacks did not enjoy an easy or equitable life there.
Overall I found myself more invested in Sancho’s younger years, particularly his escape from the home of the three elderly women who treated him like a pet and then imprisoned him when they discovered he’d secretly learnt to read and write, than in his latter years. I felt that I was being shown the drama as it happened and was almost experiencing it alongside him. As Sancho got older I felt I was being told not shown about his life so felt a step removed. I’m unsure about the inclusion of letters from his eventual wife when she was in Barbados since they took the focus away from Sancho, although they did highlight his great fear. Despite Sancho’s hardships this book is not a heavy read. That’s because of his personality, or at least the way it is depicted in this book. He comes across as a rancoteur, somebody who doesn’t always take himself too seriously, is warm-hearted and enjoys life. Yet he’s always aware of his vulnerability as a Black man, and safety and freedom, for him, his family and other Blacks, are always underlying concerns. The horrors of plantation slavery may not have occurred in England itself. Yet, as highlighted in this book, Blacks did not enjoy an easy or equitable life there.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Racism, and Slavery
Moderate: Sexual assault