Rebecca

Rebecca asked Colson Whitehead:

This question contains spoilers… (view spoiler)

Colson Whitehead After the Georgia chapter, safe to say the novel is not historically accurate. Making the choice to make the metaphorical railroad literal freed me up to play with time. The "time period" is 1850 in terms of technology and slang, but I bring in different things from different decades, and weave them into Cora's story.

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Bobby

Bobby asked Colson Whitehead:

How do you go from writing about zombies to the Underground Railroad? That is TRUE genre crossing!

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?

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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