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Washington Black

Esi Edugyan

3.99 · Rating details · 36,031 ratings · 4,476 reviews

A dazzling adventure story about a boy who rises from the ashes of slavery to become a free man of the world.

George Washington Black, or "Wash," an eleven-year-old field slave on a Barbados sugar plantation, is terrified to be chosen by his master's brother as his manservant. To his surprise, the eccentric Christopher Wilde turns out to be a naturalist, explorer, inventor, ...more

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Paperback, 384 pages

Published April 9th 2019 by Vintage (first published August 2nd 2018)

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Sep 29, 2018 Petra-X rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2018-100-reviews, fiction, popculture-anthropology, reviewed

5 stars for part one of the book because it excited my interest.
4 stars for the generally, really wonderful writing.
3 stars for the second part of the book, good but elements were starting not to hang together.
2 stars for the third part because I was getting fed up with tell rather than show.
1 star for the sheer, dragging boredom of all the unlikely things that happen and the just as unlikely rationales, and having to wade my way through what now seems like turgid prose just to say "I finished ...more

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Dec 10, 2018 Larry H rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

4.5 stars, rounded up.

"How was it possible, thought I, that we lived in such nightmare and all the while a world of men continued just over the horizon, men such as these, in ships moving in any direction the wind might lead them?"

George Washington ("Wash") Black is an 11-year-old slave growing up on a sugar plantation in Barbados in 1830. He has felt the cruelty of his master and his overseers, and seen the violence with which other slaves are treated. But when the master dies, there is little 4.5 stars, rounded up.

"How was it possible, thought I, that we lived in such nightmare and all the while a world of men continued just over the horizon, men such as these, in ships moving in any direction the wind might lead them?"

George Washington ("Wash") Black is an 11-year-old slave growing up on a sugar plantation in Barbados in 1830. He has felt the cruelty of his master and his overseers, and seen the violence with which other slaves are treated. But when the master dies, there is little time to rejoice, as the new master appears to be equally, if not more, twisted and sadistic.

Wash is surprised and frightened when he is pulled from the fields to become the manservant to the master's eccentric brother. Christopher Wilde, or Titch, as Wash calls him, is a man of science, a man desperate to study the natural world around him and make brilliant discoveries. Titch treats Wash as his research assistant, and under Titch's tutelage, Wash's talent for nature drawing begins to flourish.

Titch's greatest dream is to soar through the skies in the Cloud-Cutter, a balloon-like contraption he has designed. No one, Wash included, believes it will ever be able to leave the ground or travel far, yet Titch is determined to make sure it is ready for the right conditions. And when a man dies, and Wash is the leading suspect, Titch and Wash know they must disappear far from Barbados—and they hope the Cloud-Cutter will help them get on their way.

The two make their way across the Atlantic, traveling up the east coast of the U.S., up into Canada and eventually, to a remote outpost in the Arctic. All the while they live in fear that the bounty hunter searching for Wash will find them, but they fail to understand that black men are treated the same way no matter where they are.

"It had happened so gradually, but these months with Titch had schooled me to believe I could leave all misery behind, I could cast off all violence, outrun a vicious death. I had even begun thinking I'd been born for a higher purpose, to draw the earth's bounty, and to invent; I had imagined my existence a true and rightful part of the natural order. How wrong-headed it had all been. I was a black boy, only—I had no future before me, and little grace or mercy behind me. I was nothing, I would die nothing, hunted hastily down and slaughtered."

When Titch and Wash are separated, Wash realizes for the first time that he is the only person he can count on to save himself and change his life's circumstances. His journey takes him through Canada, to England, Amsterdam, and the windswept deserts of Morocco. Amazingly, he learns the lessons it takes men their entire lives to learn (if that), lessons about betrayal, love, identity, independence, and self-worth.

Washington Black is a tremendously thought-provoking look at a boy who becomes a man as most of the world looks at him as less than that. Wash knows he is more than people believe he is, yet proving that to them—and himself—causes more emotional pain, and puts him at great risk. He is a tremendously fascinating character, one it will be very hard to forget.

Esi Edugyan is a magnificent storyteller, and in addition to the suspenseful, emotional, powerful parts of her story, she does a fantastic job with imagery as well, as her characters travel across the world. This book is a meditation on what freedom truly is, and how we are just as responsible for freeing ourselves as those whom have kept us captive. It is a story that will make you think, it will make you angry at times, and in the end, it will make you feel.

I've never read anything of Edugyan's before, but I was tremendously impressed with her talent. This isn't necessarily a fast-paced book although it never felt slow. I just immersed myself in Wash's incredible journey.

See all of my reviews at itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com. ...more

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Sep 11, 2018 Trudie rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: booker-18, historical

Despite a cover that is currently winking at me with come-hither gold foiled clouds, this book was one mammoth slog from beginning to end. The most generous thing I can find to say is that it fairly "zips along" but to what purpose I am unsure.

Much focus has been placed on why a crime novel like Snap is on the Man Booker longlist but at the moment I am looking askance at this middling historical fiction / adventure tale. I am not adverse to historical fiction, Hilary Mantel being the master in Despite a cover that is currently winking at me with come-hither gold foiled clouds, this book was one mammoth slog from beginning to end. The most generous thing I can find to say is that it fairly "zips along" but to what purpose I am unsure.

Much focus has been placed on why a crime novel like Snap is on the Man Booker longlist but at the moment I am looking askance at this middling historical fiction / adventure tale. I am not adverse to historical fiction, Hilary Mantel being the master in my eyes, nor do I distain the odd adventure story ( The North Water - polar bears ! Eskimos ! Murder ! ) however this book is one damp squib of disappointment by comparison.

It starts on a sugar plantation in Barbados in 1830 and so would seem to be headed in the direction of a slave narrative but this ain't no Homegoing or The Underground Railroad. Many of the characters, had potential but ultimately lacked depth and often drifted inexplicably away, (Big Kit, Titch) . Bad guys were easy to spot they were marked out early by their ghostly white, sickly countenances, flinty and/or watery eyes and most damming of all, their thin pale lips often curled into a snarl. They may as well just had a sign pinned on them "evil".

The novel slowly morphs into a sort of Victorian era adventure novel complete with a "gentleman scientist" the enigmatic, Titch, roaming about tasting grass and dirt, putting electric eels in barrels and dabbling unwisely with hot air balloons. I had been looking forward to this much vaunted balloon which graces my cover in all it's Steampunk glory but it is soon abandoned in a ridiculous scene of misadventure. I am unsure how a book that seems to hint at a rollicking tale is so devoid of any truly thrilling moments. Even the attempt at the shadowy slave catcher plot line petered out without raising a pulse.

Usually, I can find something redeeming to say about a 400 page novel, lets see, there were some picturesque descriptions of nudibranches and colourful ink-squirting Octopodes. It was nice that the main character, an ex-slave known as Washington Black, was an undiscovered scientific genius. Largely self-taught he excelled as a botanical illustrator, diver, marine biologist, and inventor of the worlds first aquarium - a truly remarkable fellow.

Obviously, this book managed to set off several hot buttons for things that frustrate me in books which is not just limited to underutilised balloons. However, I have in all likelihood been more mean-spirited here because this book made the Man Booker longlist which is unconscionable to me in a year when there is a plethora of brilliantly written and challenging fiction. ...more

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Sep 25, 2018 Read By RodKelly rated it it was ok · review of another edition

I'm SHOCKED this is on the Man Booker Shortlist...
The book has an incredibly strong opening: the pacing and character development are pitch perfect, a real page-turner. However, about 150 pages in, the plot dissolves and morphs into one of those clunky YA narratives: this happens, then this happens, then this happens. We're told, not shown, and this endless chain of events leads NO WHERE. I'm pissed ...more

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Nov 01, 2018 Elyse Walters rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Audiobook narrated by Dion Graham.....( great raspy voice)

The language -words - sentences - dialogue - are beautiful, intense, suspenseful, with ranges of temperatures - smells - creatures - smiles - fierceness - wildness - anxiousness - desire - softness- gentleness- electrifying moments - harrowing scenes - present stillness - quietness - saucy entertaining - touching - astonishing - unsettling - genuinely felt ....( the fear, the feelings of bitterness, the will for violence - kill or be ...more

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Aug 05, 2018 Hugh rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: booker-shortlist, read-2018, modern-lit

Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2018

My seventh book from the longlist is another choice that may have surprised people, and I found it a very enjoyable read. It gives the adventure story a modern twist by making its eponymous hero a slave born on a plantation in Barbados in the early 19th century.

The Faith Plantation's owner has died, leaving it in the hands of the sadistic and barbarous Erasmus Wilde, almost a caricature villain. Brought into the house as a waiter, Wash catches the eye of ...more

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Nov 23, 2018 Jessica Woodbury rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: best-2018-arcs, authors-of-color, historical-fiction

I was curious about how people reviewed this book and it appears that the Goodreads consensus is "a historical adventure story that gets more boring as time passes" and I would like to say for the record that these reviews are all wrong.

Yes, technically I suppose you can classify this as an adventure story. There are journeys across several countries and continents, there are searches and escapes, there is a cast of eccentric characters. But I don't really care much for that kind of story, I I was curious about how people reviewed this book and it appears that the Goodreads consensus is "a historical adventure story that gets more boring as time passes" and I would like to say for the record that these reviews are all wrong.

Yes, technically I suppose you can classify this as an adventure story. There are journeys across several countries and continents, there are searches and escapes, there is a cast of eccentric characters. But I don't really care much for that kind of story, I don't get much of a thrill from blimps or ships or what have you. And while clearly Edugyan is piling on these Victorian adventure twists and enjoying it, it is not her true purpose. It's just the trappings and it seems to me, especially from those who seem to find the book getting progressively less interesting, that many readers haven't seen the forest for the trees.

Because ultimately this is a moving and sad book about how a slave who becomes a freeman forms his own identity. How can you see yourself as a full person when you were born in a world where you were not a person? How can you give yourself humanity when the people around you do not see you as fully human? Wash's adventures are not rollicking fun because he spends much of his life looking over his shoulder, worried that he is going to be captured and made a slave again. How do you try to build a life and enjoy it when it could be taken away from you at any moment?

For me, Wash's story gets more interesting as time passes and he gets more removed from his life as a slave. He begins to ask bigger questions and Edugyan presents one of the most modern and complex takes on abolitionists I've ever seen, one that you cannot help but consider in a present day context. This book bubbles with modern questions on race and allyship, about seeing people as symbols, about idealism vs pragmatism, and how even so-called "good" people can still be infected with racism even when they try to work against racist systems.

I can get easily bogged down in historical fiction that's too heavy but that didn't happen here, though I did have to work a bit to slow myself down. There are a few scenes that are so intense, especially one involving a slave catcher, that I had a physical reaction. I'm so glad this got enough awards attention to catch my eye, it absolutely deserves it. A truly stellar accomplishment, and a book I'd consider reading either as a companion to Whitehead's THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD or as a substitute if you're worried that book is going to be too traumatic. This one has much less active racial violence and fear, though there is obviously some. ...more

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Aug 03, 2018 Fran rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

"A man who has belonged to another learns very early to observe a master's eyes; what I saw in this man's terrified me." Erasmus Wilde was the new master of Faith Plantation, Barbados. The year was 1830. George Washington Black "Wash" was a ten year old field slave who helped "clear the cane". Wash had no family but Big Kit, a field slave as well, nurtured him. Reading Wash's palm, she declared, "you will have a great big life, child..."

Erasmus Wilde, the eldest son of an adventurer, was left in "A man who has belonged to another learns very early to observe a master's eyes; what I saw in this man's terrified me." Erasmus Wilde was the new master of Faith Plantation, Barbados. The year was 1830. George Washington Black "Wash" was a ten year old field slave who helped "clear the cane". Wash had no family but Big Kit, a field slave as well, nurtured him. Reading Wash's palm, she declared, "you will have a great big life, child..."

Erasmus Wilde, the eldest son of an adventurer, was left in charge of four plantations, living at and running Faith Plantation, the most profitable one. He resented his younger brother Christopher nicknamed "Titch", a scientist and adventurer. Titch could pursue anything of his choosing and what he wanted was to train Wash as his man servant. He needed someone small to assist with his scientific endeavors. His "Cloud Cutter" was a hot air balloon. Titch determined that an "airborne" balloon could support both his weight and that of a small boy. Surprisingly, Wash was discovered to be a budding artist who learned to document Titch's data and measurements and illustrate what he saw from several different vantage points. This uneducated field slave slowly tasted life outside the confines of the plantation. Could he live a meaningful existence and be acknowledged for his present and future accomplishments? It would be challenging since the vengeful Erasmus was offering a reward of 1,000 pounds for the capture of Wash. Will he ever be his own man?

"Washington Black" by Esi Edugyan was an excellent historical adventure novel that allowed the reader to witness Wash's unsettling journey. Leaving the sugar cane fields, he learned different societal expectations while experiencing shame and anger associated with rejection by the field slaves. Could his artistic renderings under the tutelage of Titch be acknowledged as his own? Does Wash have a voice? "Washington Black" by Esi Edugyan is a character study of Wash and a commentary on slavery and race in the 1800's. I highly recommend this 2018 Man Booker Long Listed Nominee.

Thank you First to Read for a digital copy in exchange for my honest review. ...more

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Oct 07, 2018 Rachel rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: booker-2018, historical-fiction, 2018

This is the Man Booker title that I was the most trepidatious about picking up this year, not because I doubted its quality, but just because there is nothing about a nineteenth century Caribbean and North American-set historical fiction adventure tale that appeals to me. So with that said, I guess I did enjoy this more than I expected to... just not enough to really understand its inclusion on the Booker shortlist over more structurally innovative and intellectually stimulating titles.

This This is the Man Booker title that I was the most trepidatious about picking up this year, not because I doubted its quality, but just because there is nothing about a nineteenth century Caribbean and North American-set historical fiction adventure tale that appeals to me. So with that said, I guess I did enjoy this more than I expected to... just not enough to really understand its inclusion on the Booker shortlist over more structurally innovative and intellectually stimulating titles.

This book's greatest asset ironically ended up being a detriment for me, and that was the fact that it's incredibly well-written. The thing that immediately struck me about this book was how incongruously poised its first person narration is. Though the character Washington does show a natural intelligence throughout the story, one does have to question where an uneducated boy born into slavery picked up vocabulary words like unconscionable, inviolate, incandescence, leadenly, and disconsolate (these are only a portion of the ones I highlighted which jumped out at me, and I wasn't even including dialogue from other characters). So while I would describe the prose as smart and pleasurable to read, and while I'd seek out more books by Edugyan in the future for this factor alone, I don't think it suited this particular book.

But my bigger problem with Washington Black is the way that the plot seemed to drive the characters throughout the narrative, and not the other way around. To describe this premise and execution as contrived is an understatement. As I was reading, I felt like I could constantly see Edugyan's hand manipulating these characters into the situations that they found themselves in, and this never ended up feeling like anything other than outlandish fiction. I have no problem with coincidences and fate being used by an author deliberately and thematically (see: The Heart's Invisible Furies), but it's a fine line to walk, and if this is what Edugyan was attempting, I'm afraid her efforts ended up seeming to me more like plot devices than divine intervention.

It's a pacey and readable book from beginning to end (especially the end - I loved the last few chapters quite a lot), but the narrative structure of 'character zips along from place to place, encountering quirky characters who quickly come and go' will never be my favorite formula, and though there's occasionally incisive commentary on the relationship between white abolitionists and freed slaves in the nineteenth century, none of it is really groundbreaking enough that I feel terribly enriched for having read this. I could have forgiven it a lot for being an entertaining story through and through, but despite the fact that I breezed through it in two days, it was a thoroughly lukewarm reading experience that I doubt will stay with me in any kind of significant way. ...more

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Jul 23, 2018 Meike rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2018-read, 2018-mbp, canada

Winner of the Giller Prize 2018
The Booker judges seem to be eager to add quite some material that is highly accessible and easily readable this year, but while the inclusion of Snap seemed outrageous to me, this is a defendable choice. Edugyan writes about slavery, racism, and identity, but in the form of an adventure novel, told chronologically and in the first person. While this makes for a rather conservative narrative strategy, the author clearly knows how to compose an engaging and Winner of the Giller Prize 2018
The Booker judges seem to be eager to add quite some material that is highly accessible and easily readable this year, but while the inclusion of Snap seemed outrageous to me, this is a defendable choice. Edugyan writes about slavery, racism, and identity, but in the form of an adventure novel, told chronologically and in the first person. While this makes for a rather conservative narrative strategy, the author clearly knows how to compose an engaging and compelling story - and there is depth, too.

Our protagonist is George Washington Black who at the beginning of the story is an 11-year-old slave on a sugar plantation in Barbados. When the new owner's brother arrives and needs help for his science project, Wash, as people call him, gets the chance to get away from the vicious and sadistic cruelty the slaves on the plantation have to endure. Christopher Wilde, or "Titch", as the young scientist is called, borrows Wash from his brother so that he might help him work on an airship he designed - by that, Wash first gets the chance to learn about science and nature, which, along with drawing, will turn out to be his passion. When Wash, without his own doing, gets into trouble that might cost him his life, Wash and Titch flee Barbados with their "cloud-cutter".

From there on, Wash roams the world, first seeking safety as he is a runaway slave, later, when slavery is abolished, still fearing bounty hunters and looking for Titch - I will not spoil how they got separated, but I will say that Wash travels to the US, the Arctic, Canada, London, Amsterdam, and Marocco. We learn more about Titch's twisted family and witness how Wash tries to build a life, pursuing his interests in science and art.

All of this is intriguing as an adventure novel, but Edugyan also discusses the hardship Wash has to endure, because even when slavery was abolished, racism of course persisted. Wash struggles with his identity, constantly forced to look into the gap between his own potential and what society sees in him. The writing is particularly strong when Edugyan writes about the psychology of her characters, what drives them and how they suffer from their flaws and past injuries, mental and phsyical. For instance, the question arises why Titch decided to help Wash: Is he, the white upper class scientist and abolitionist who finances his endeavours with money earned by the plantation, a good person, or does he just pursue self-serving goals? Sometimes it seems like Titch does not know himself.

Sure, the novel partly comes close to a fairy tale and the narrative skeleton that carries Wash's travels always shines through - much of what happens is highly unlikely, or as the text itself puts it: "You are like an interruption in a novel, Wash. The agent that sets things off course." But realism is not the point here, Edugyan talks about history and human nature in the form of an allegory, and there are many smart ideas and strong images. This is an enjoyable, intelligent read that leaves room for interpretation and discussion. ...more

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Aug 24, 2018 Eric Anderson rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

When considering the immeasurable evil of slavery it’s difficult to fully fathom the ramifications it had amongst so many individuals' lives. Not only were people’s freedom and lives brutally curtailed, controlled and cut short, but their talent and potential was also squandered. Esi Edugyan evocatively portrays the life of George Washington Black or “Wash”, a character with the aptitude to be a great artist and scientist were he not born into slavery on a Barbados plantation in 1818. But she ...more

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Aug 04, 2019 Hannah Greendale rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: literary, historical-fiction, booker-prize-nominee, giller-prize-winner

An incongruous mess.

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Dec 30, 2018 Linda rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: scientific-themes, nature-themes, historical-fiction

"I will only say that if I have acquired any wisdom from Big Kit, it is to live always with your eyes cast forward, to seek what will be, for the path behind can never be retaken."

But Fate wrapped eleven year old George Washington Black in a cloak of uncertainty from the day that he was born. What future lies ahead for a field slave in 1830 on a Barbados sugar plantation surrounded in life's drudgery and seeped in the fear of daily existence?

And yet Fate stepped in and chose Wash for a trek into "I will only say that if I have acquired any wisdom from Big Kit, it is to live always with your eyes cast forward, to seek what will be, for the path behind can never be retaken."

But Fate wrapped eleven year old George Washington Black in a cloak of uncertainty from the day that he was born. What future lies ahead for a field slave in 1830 on a Barbados sugar plantation surrounded in life's drudgery and seeped in the fear of daily existence?

And yet Fate stepped in and chose Wash for a trek into a world filled with possibilities beyond the imaginable. The butterfly's wings stirred up the air into events neither envisioned nor welcomed. The plantation owner's brother, Christopher "Titch" Wilde, decided that Wash was the young boy he needed to fulfill his dreams. Titch dabbled in the scientific pursuit of sketching and categorizing the plant and sea life around Barbados. He patiently taught Wash to read and to draw in order to record his findings.

Wash's transformation from field slave to a notable documentarian is remarkable. But the cruelty of the times leaned in with the false starkness that plantation life is embedded somehow into one's DNA. Big Kit warned him about getting too close to the fire. You'll see how this affects Wash throughout the novel. When a body is found on the grounds, Titch fears that Wash will be blamed. They take to the sky in Titch's dangerous balloon in order to get off the island. It is here that the story presents event after event of man's indifference, cruelty, and hatred served deeply within a clenched fist.

Washington Black is quite the novel by Esi Edugyan. She envelopes her story with a rush of time, place, and circumstance saturated in descriptors both beautiful and horrifying. Her characters are complicated and deeply faceted. Being immersed in the years of 1830 - 1836, we question the motives of even those who appear focused and true. We marvel at the untapped talents of those who enter through the back door of Fate. Edugyan presents quite the read showcasing one man's journey where footsteps can never linger.

...more

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Sep 18, 2018 Ron Charles rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2018-favorites, historical-fiction

“Washington Black” — one of the most anticipated books of the year — should finally get American readers to wake up to this extraordinary novelist across our Northern border. Esi Edugyan, a Canadian writer whose parents immigrated from Ghana, inspired a chorus of international praise for her previous novel, “Half-Blood Blues,” but it never attracted the audience it deserved in the United States.

That should change now.

Longlisted for the Man Booker Prize, “Washington Black” is an engrossing hybrid ...more

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Apr 14, 2019 Lori rated it liked it · review of another edition

It has a fantasy appeal along the lines of an adventure by Jules Verne.

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Aug 06, 2018 Peter Boyle rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: booker-nominee

I'm not sure I'd have read Washington Black if it hadn't been nominated for the Booker Prize. I just don't think it would have been on my radar. But when I examined the synopses of all the long-listed novels, it jumped right to the top of my list. Of all the books selected, it sounded like the most accessible and entertaining. And it is a fun read. It's a globe-trotting romp, a fast-paced historical adventure.

Our narrator is the eponymous George Washington Black, an eleven-year-old slave on a I'm not sure I'd have read Washington Black if it hadn't been nominated for the Booker Prize. I just don't think it would have been on my radar. But when I examined the synopses of all the long-listed novels, it jumped right to the top of my list. Of all the books selected, it sounded like the most accessible and entertaining. And it is a fun read. It's a globe-trotting romp, a fast-paced historical adventure.

Our narrator is the eponymous George Washington Black, an eleven-year-old slave on a Barbadian sugar plantation. Like all of the other workers he is treated terribly by the sadistic owner, Erasmus Wilde, beaten for the smallest infraction. Kit, an older slave, takes him under her wing but "Wash" seems doomed to a life of servitude. That is until Christopher "Titch" Wilde shows up. He is much kinder and more thoughtful than his cruel brother - an abolitionist and a man of science. He enlists the help of Wash to help build his latest experiment, a type of flying machine he dubs "the cloud-cutter." Titch is amazed at Wash's aptitude for this work, and the uneducated boy displays a particular talent for drawing. The duo wait for the perfect conditions to launch their contraption, but they might have to avail of its services sooner than they think.

From such unpromising origins, Wash finds himself on a great adventure. His journey takes him far from his Caribbean home, out upon the high seas and even on an Arctic expedition. But there is more to his story than navigating the globe. Wash eventually begins to question his place in the world. He wonders if the scars of slavery will ever leave him. And though he owes his life to the intervention of Titch, he starts to see flaws in the one person he looks up to more than anyone else. It is as much a cautionary tale about perils of false idols, as a story about the wounds of servitude.

However, as much as I enjoyed reading this book, I felt that something was missing. It's an entertaining story but I just don't think it possesses the literary heft required of a Booker winner. There is nothing wrong with Edugyan's writing but I didn't feel that she had anything truly profound to say. And the ending seemed quite flat to me, almost unfinished. Maybe I'm being a little harsh. Though I found it rather lightweight, I'm glad I read Washington Black. It's a captivating, pacy story with a very likable hero. ...more

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Mar 06, 2019 Trish rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: africa, historical-novel, canada, literature, fiction, adolescence, race, totally-unexpected

I finished Edugyan's third novel today in a fog, reading the last hundred pages completely engrossed in the strangely unreal world and story Edugyan had created, about a former slave, physically damaged from years in captivity but involved in the science of creating an indoor aquarium in London—something never done before.

If at first—and I have seen such criticism—the story seemed a little derivative of Jules Verne with wondrous and far-flung adventures, Edugyan pulled it off. There were I finished Edugyan's third novel today in a fog, reading the last hundred pages completely engrossed in the strangely unreal world and story Edugyan had created, about a former slave, physically damaged from years in captivity but involved in the science of creating an indoor aquarium in London—something never done before.

If at first—and I have seen such criticism—the story seemed a little derivative of Jules Verne with wondrous and far-flung adventures, Edugyan pulled it off. There were wondrous adventures when naturalists and people of science began to turn their attention outside their own environments to the larger world. Anything they could conceive of was about to be tried…travel to the Arctic, say, or to the bottom of the ocean, or ballooning long distances. The story is an absolute feast of imagination.

Race is an important component of the story in that we have an abolitionist white scientist who chooses a young slave boy to be ballast for his balloon adventure. When the white master discovers his black ballast has exceptional drawing skills, the boy’s role changes. Though they are close, there is always a power differential in their relationship that keeps the friendship from meaning as much to the white man as it does to the black man.

Edugyan sketches this kind of unconscious racism so clearly, and points to it, that one can hardly walk away from the book with one’s vision unchanged, whichever side one is on. We can put words to a feeling of alienation we may have seen or felt before but weren’t able to express.

It turns out the history of the world’s first public aquarium is much as is described in this novel, though I was unable to discover whether a very young black man was the first to come up with the idea and design of the tanks for public display of sea creatures in the mid-nineteenth century. It seems perfectly likely, as does the fact that such a man would never be acknowledged, his history expunged as a matter of course.

Edugyan is Canadian, which is not obvious. She sets a portion of the novel in Newfoundland, but otherwise the characters travel far and wide on nearly every continent. She adds an intriguing love interest for George Washington Black, the main character and former slave from Barbados. We presume Black is originally from Dahoumey in west Africa because that place name is buried deep in his subconscious and is resurrected when his life is in danger.

Black’s love interest is a mixed-race island woman of great beauty and intelligence and a rounded sense of her own potential. Her father, also a scientist, did not encourage her to develop her physical charms. One day he allowed her to purchase a few small concessions to beauty that she craved: red lipstick, a diaphanous dress, an emerald clasp. She discovered that people noticed her more but saw her less. This lesson all women must learn and decide whether to exploit or not.

The start of the novel was not particularly convincing and had the feel of a young adult novel, but it began as it meant to go on, and by midway I was involved, suspending belief, rapt, and curious. There was something about the way the role of the one-time slave was progressing that held some hope that his potential would be developed. And the history of race is not yet finished being told, since we write it every day.

It's a wonderful novel. Edugyan has written two other critically-acclaimed novels and at least two collections of stories. She has taught creative writing and has won several international awards for her work. ...more

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Aug 08, 2018 Britta Böhler rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, bookprice, kindle-scribd, femlit, 01mb2018, 2018, 2018bw-read, poc

An entertaining, easy read (despite the subject of the book).
Reading this book was bit like eating cotton candy: fluffy and sweet but it leaves you with a slight stomach ache and a craving for some 'real' food.

2.5* (rounded up)

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Oct 01, 2019 Barbara rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, adult-fiction, award-nominated

“Washington Black” by Esi Edugyan defies basic novel genres. It’s historical in that it begins in the year 1830 in Barbados on a sugar plantation. Our protagonist, George Washington Black, aka Wash, is an eleven-year-old slave on the plantation. The master of the plantation has died, and his brother comes to take his place. Fear is rampant as new masters can sometimes be worse than previous masters, and all of them are deadly.

Wash gains the attention of a brother of the new Master. Christopher, ...more

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May 16, 2019 Lindsay - Traveling Sister rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: author-series

4 stars! A spellbinding and unforgettable journey!

George Washington Black “Wash” is an eleven-year-old black boy who was born into slavery on a sugar plantation in Barbados in the early 1800’s. He knows no other life other than working the fields for endless hours, sleeping in dirt floor huts and trying his best to avoid being noticed. He is an orphan who was taken in by “Big Kit”, a well-respected elder slave, the only mother-like figure he has ever known. One day, Christopher “Titch” Wilde, 4 stars! A spellbinding and unforgettable journey!

George Washington Black “Wash” is an eleven-year-old black boy who was born into slavery on a sugar plantation in Barbados in the early 1800’s. He knows no other life other than working the fields for endless hours, sleeping in dirt floor huts and trying his best to avoid being noticed. He is an orphan who was taken in by “Big Kit”, a well-respected elder slave, the only mother-like figure he has ever known. One day, Christopher “Titch” Wilde, the plantation owners’ brother, singles out Wash. Titch requests that Wash come to live in his quarters as his manservant. Terrified of what this might mean, Wash leaves the sugar fields and Big Kit behind to join Titch. This is the start of a surprising and epic adventure that lights a fire within Wash and brings him places he never knew existed.

I adored Wash! He is an outstanding and endearing character who I will be thinking of long after finishing this novel. He radiated innocence and naivety which pulled at my heart strings. I felt for him and all that he endured. I couldn’t shake the sense of his wonderment about how Titch treated him as a human being who had thoughts, opinions and talent. It was heartwarming to see Wash gain strength and confidence as a person from the respect Titch showed him.

The imagery was mesmerizing. Wash travels many places around the world and I could truly sense the atmosphere within each. There were a few times that I felt the narrative jumped ahead too quickly or referred back to times that we, as readers, didn’t get to witness alongside the characters, however, it didn’t detract from the overall experience.

I had the immense pleasure of attending an Author Event with Esi Edugyan. She was wonderful to listen to and provided much insight into this story which enhanced my reading enjoyment as I could fully understand her intentions and vision on what this story means. I look forward to reading more from her!

This was a Traveling Sister read with Brenda.
...more

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Nov 22, 2019 Susan's Reviews rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This lyrically written novel is half horror story, half adventure yarn. The descriptions of abuse, torture and outright murder of the slaves on the Barbados sugar plantation that was home to young Washington Black gave me nightmares. My heart was sickened by the description of other human as being just like so much furniture, easily broken and disposed of. Just despicable.
Erasmus Wilde was a sadistic man, and we learn at the end of the story that this was a lifelong attribute. Poor Christopher - ...more

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Aug 24, 2018 Jenny (Reading Envy) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: location-canada, booker-winners-and-listed, location-caribbean, read2018, netgalley, reviewcopy, canada-alaska-2018, ebooks, around-the-world, location-barbados

Washington Black by Esi Edugyan comes out in the USA on September 18, but I received an eARC from the publisher through Netgalley. And since it is on the Man Booker Prize longlist, I read it early! I can tell the Booker judges are up for an adventure story this year. This story of a child enslaved in Barbados who ends up traveling the world thanks to a scientist/explorer/adventurer, and discovers his own artistic talents. He travels all over where we can see the plight of former slaves in ...more

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Aug 07, 2018 Gumble's Yard rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2018-booker-longlist, 2018, 2018-booker-shortlist

Longlisted for the 2018 Man Booker which gives rise to a nice matched set of comparisons (additional ones now added below).

2017 Man Booker novel about an unresolved mystery and set in the English countryside: Reservoir 13. 2018 equivalent: Snap.

2017 Man Booker allegorical novel about slavery and institutionalised racism. Underground Railroad. 2018 equivalent: this book. (*)

Perhaps even more disappointingly this has made the shortlist whereas Underground Railroad did not.

Now I have to say that ...more

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Aug 07, 2018 Roman Clodia rated it liked it · review of another edition

This is certainly very readable but I'm not convinced that the various elements really come together. The brutalities of plantation life for black slaves have been more fully depicted elsewhere, not least in The Underground Railroad and the classic Beloved. The second half is more like a Victorian adventure: think Jules Verne here, with balloons, ship voyages, and scientific experiments to construct aquariums.

By the end, themes of freedom, homecoming and reparations emerge with concerns about ...more

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Aug 01, 2018 Paul Fulcher rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: net-galley, 2018, booker-2018

"I had already seen many deaths: I knew the nature of evil. It was white like a duppy , it drifted down out of a carriage one morning and into the heat of a frightened plantation with nothing in its eyes."

Edi Edugyan's Washington Black: A Novel has been shortlisted for the 2018 Man Booker.

The narrator starts by plunging into his story midstream before taking a step back:

"But that is no beginning. Allow me to begin again, for the record. I have walked this earth for eighteen years. I am a ...more

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Jan 23, 2019 Ace rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: tob2019-shortlist

I tried very hard to like this novel, but after the Arctic visit, I started to lose interest in the story. Wash started to get on my nerves, and the number of coincidences that strung the story together was too much for me.

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Oct 20, 2018 Jennifer Blankfein rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

With history, science and creativity, talented author Esi Edugyan tells the story of an 11 year old slave, in Barbados and his adventurous escape to freedom. Washington Black, or Wash, brought up in the sugar cane fields, experienced more than his share of oppression, suffering and abuse. When the slave master's brother, Titch, visits the plantation and asks for the boy to be loaned to him, an unusual friendship and reliance developed between the two.

Growing up among brutal violence, Wash found With history, science and creativity, talented author Esi Edugyan tells the story of an 11 year old slave, in Barbados and his adventurous escape to freedom. Washington Black, or Wash, brought up in the sugar cane fields, experienced more than his share of oppression, suffering and abuse. When the slave master's brother, Titch, visits the plantation and asks for the boy to be loaned to him, an unusual friendship and reliance developed between the two.

Growing up among brutal violence, Wash found Titch to be a father figure. Titch was an abolitionist at heart and although he was focused on his scientific discovery of a flying machine, he provided opportunity for Wash as he taught him to read and nurtured his artistic abilities. When Wash found himself in a dangerous situation, Titch abandoned his scientific experimentation to save him and they journeyed to the Arctic, where Wash gained his freedom, yet deep seeded scars of his past lingered, contributing to his ongoing struggle with truly feeling free.

The two parted ways and Wash clumsily navigated his first feelings of love and independence while he continued his quest for connection, respect and feelings of belonging, safety and equality.

Esu Edugyan's characters are deep and well developed, and the story is heartbreaking, heartwarming, adventurous and rich with history. When we learn and think about slavery we remember and try to understand the brutality inflicted on human beings, and the horrific mindset slave owners embodied, but the author brings to light more than just the struggles, abuse and loss of dignity, loss of self respect and self worth and loss of life...she reminds us of the incredible talents, contributions and genius that were sacrificed by taking away the rights of so many.

Finding love and pursuing scientific discovery began to fulfill Wash's dreams for a well lived life yet, even when he was free and slavery was outlawed, he was haunted by his past. "I became a boy without identity, a walking shadow, and with each new month I fell deeper into strangeness. For there could be no belonging for a creature such as myself, anywhere; a disfigured black boy with a scientific turn of mind and a talent on canvas, running, always running, from the dimmest of shadows."

This is a story of a slave, his passage to freedom, his never ending search for identity, love, family and success. It is an incredible adventure from the islands to the Arctic and beyond. Can we overcome setbacks from our youth, or do we carry scars that impact our life forever?

In Washington Black, Edugyan gives Wash physical scars from the past reminding us that we are made up of life experiences that cannot be erased, and who we are is developed from our life journey. Longlisted for the 2018 Man Booker Prize, for me this is a winner!
...more

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Sep 23, 2018 Anita Pomerantz rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Lo and behold, a Man Booker nominee that doesn't rely on an original structure, but rather on a great combination of strong storytelling, beautifully rendered prose, and a central character that a reader can really care for and about. This book actually really reminds me of The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt, except it doesn't go off the rails at the end. But I saw parallels with the young male narrator at the center of the story dealing with tremendous loss and leaning on relative strangers combined ...more

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Jul 10, 2019 Erik rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Rich, charming, gruesome account of a slave's journey through the age of discovery. The prose is spare and seductive.

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Jan 05, 2020 Alice Lippart rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-in-2020

Excellently written and I was really immersed in the story until the last third, where I think the story starts slipping a little bit.

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About Esi Edugyan

Esi Edugyan

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Esi Edugyan has a Masters in Writing from Johns Hopkins Writing Seminars. Her work has appeared in several anthologies, including Best New American Voices 2003, ed. Joyce Carol Oates, and Revival: An Anthology of Black Canadian Writing (2006).

Her debut novel, The Second Life of Samuel Tyne, was published internationally. It was nominated for the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, was a More Book Lust ...more

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Quotes from Washington Black

“You took me on because I was helpful in your political cause. Because I could aid in your experiments. Beyond that I was of no use to you, and so you abandoned me.” I struggled to get my breath. “I was nothing to you. You never saw me as equal. You were more concerned that slavery should be a moral stain upon white men than by the actual damage it wreaks on black men.” — 8 likes

“We must all take on faith the stories of our birth, for though we are in them, we are not yet present.” — 6 likes

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