4/5 stars.
ebook, 432 pages.
Read from February 25, 2022 to March 6, 2022.
The runner up of this year’s Canada Reads 2022 debate, this is not the author’s first stint in the annual debates.
Washington Black is an accessible and unique story that paints a picture of slavery and racism while taking readers on a unique journey with varying plot points that include aeronautics, marine biology, art, and an arctic expedition. Washington’s story takes him from a plantation in Barbados to the Arctic circle, Canada and even London. It’s by a strike of luck that he gets away from the plantation and that his talents for drawing are recognised by people who both help and use him. Washington spends most of his life on the run but no matter how far he gets he can’t seem to escape his past.
Washington Black is an immersive and enjoyable adventure read but feels more fantastical than most historical fiction novels on this subject. Washington’s story is engaging but was not as potent as some of the other contenders in terms of meeting the Canada Read’s 2022 theme. The author is a talented and capable writer and I would recommend this book to those that are looking for an engaging, easy, and unique historical fiction.
The Pluviophile Writer 