Clif Hostetler's Reviews > The Underground Railroad

This is a steampunk fantasy version of a 19th century historical novel. It only makes sense as metaphor—not a true story but rather a story that contains truth. The emotion is real, but it's wrapped in a frame of make-believe. After all, the term "Underground Railroad" is metaphor to begin with. This book takes that metaphor, turns it on its head, and ends up with creative imaginary history on steroids.

I knew from other reviews of this book that I wasn't going to like it because of its fantasy structure. Thus I delayed reading it until prompted to do so by a book discussion group. As it turns out the book did capture my attention. Once I let go of it being only a historical novel I was able to be carried along in a world that is partly realistic. The book contains some gruesome scenes that are realistic representations of slavery and race relations, but between these scenes are rides on a fanciful secret subway.

As I see it, the various stops along this fictional underground railroad metaphorically portray the range of African American experiences as they have transitioned from slavery to whatever exists today. For some perceptive readers the stations on the railroad will seem a bit allegorical for continuing and current social/political issues.

At the first stop in South Carolina the races seem to coexist peacefully, but they are very separate and certainly not equal. At the next stop in North Carolina blacks have been disappeared (i.e. eradicated) and replaced with Irish immigrants (a.k.a. white niggers). Following a slow passage through a burned out land and a violent encounter with slave catchers, we end up at another stop in Indiana where there's a prosperous community of free African Americans. But the white Indiana neighbors destroy the community in the same way they had gotten rid of the American Indians.

The book's narrative occasionally switches between scenes that are not in chronological order. Through some of these flashbacks the reader is informed of some background to earlier parts of the story. One of the items the reader is informed about is the fate of Cora's mother who had escaped slavery and was never caught by slave catchers.

I thought it was symbolic of something when the book ends with Cora, our protagonist, getting on a wagon with an escaping Irish worker who's head west to begin a new life.
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I've decided to included the following quotation from the book which refers to the railroad with dreamlike language that possibly suggests that it may be imaginary.

Into the tunnel that no one had made, that led nowhere.

She discovered a rhythm, pumping her arms, throwing all of herself into movement. Into northness, was she traveling through the tunnel or digging it? (p 309)