A Goodreads user

A Goodreads user asked Colson Whitehead:

I read an Advance Reading Copy. I would like to know why you decided to include vignettes of the various characters throughout the book as you did? Also, why did you choose Mabel’s vignette (Cora’s mom) as the last one?

Colson Whitehead Ajarry's story worked as a prologue, and I decided to keep up the technique. Along the way, I considered this or that character and tried to figure out what their perspective would add. Martin or Ethel? Caesar or Royal? The order was determined by how they would best serve the story, and when.

More Answered Questions

Emily

Emily asked Colson Whitehead:

The names in the book are striking, especially Caesar and Royal. How did you name your characters, and what were you consciously trying to say with your choices?

Katherine

Katherine asked Colson Whitehead:

Did you work with historians or archives to create the story?

Laurel

Laurel asked Colson Whitehead:

"She smiled at Chester, and Lovey and the women from her cabin, with brevity and efficiency. Like when you see the shadow of a bird on the ground but look up and nothing's there. She subsisted on rations, in everything." I had to close the book to think for a while, about not only how Caesar sees Cora, but how I do, how Ridgewaydoes, how every character does. Do you think about these perspectives when writing?

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Colson Whitehead

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