The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill
Read for: The Canadian Book Challenge
I’m not really sure where to start with this one. This is an incredible book and one that I think everyone should read. It’s also an important book. This book won the Commonwealth Writer’s Prize for best overall book in 2008 and it definitely deserves it.
Ok, enough raving about the book. It’s an important book because of the subject matter. The book is about the slave trade and I think it’s really important that we not forget how truly disgusting that whole period in history was.
But, (and I think more importantly) the book was incredible because it was captivating and interesting. Aminata, the main character, was lovable and strong and smart and believable. The novel tells the story of Aminata’s life, from the time she was brutally seized from her family and her life, forced to walk across the country, naked and poorly fed, branded and then pushed onto a ship to cross the ocean. Once in America, she was sold to an indigo plantation. After being sold again, she ends up a runaway in New York City, and lands herself in the Book of Negroes, for loyalty to the British Government.
And here’s where the Canadian history begins. Many Canadians know who the Loyalists were but I had never heard of the Black Loyalists before. Just before the British left America for good, the blacks of NYC were promised that if they had served the British cause for at least a year, that they would be considered free and would be transported by boat to Nova Scotia, where they would be given land to farm. 3000 blacks were listed in the Book of Negroes (which is transcribed here) and were shipped to Nova Scotia. Unfortunately, the land was slow in coming and the Black Loyalists lived a similar existence in Canada as they had previously. Several years later, 1200 of those Black Loyalists travelled back to Africa to found a colony called Freetown in Sierra Leone.
Aminata has always dreamed of going back to Africa so she joins the colony. Once back in Africa she finds that things aren’t quite the way she was expecting them to be and she travels to England to help the abolitionists. This is more than just an accounting of the journey Aminata makes. The book also tells of many of her struggles and the tragedies that befall her as a result of her colour. This book could have been really depressing but it wasn’t. It was really a beautiful read. I just can’t say enough about how much I loved this one! This definitely gets a 10/10!
Has anyone else read this book? What did you think?
