Saturday, February 8, 2020

Washington Black by Esi Edugyan

The year is 1830 and 11 year old George Washington Black is a slave on a sugar plantation in Barbados owned by the Wilde family of England.  Christopher Wilde arrives with the hopes of testing his "cloud-cutter" flying machine and invites "Wash" to be his assistant when he discovers the young boy's incredible drawing skills.  "Tilch" is the first white person who has ever treated Wash as a human being and a fierce loyalty is cemented between the two.  Because of an unfortunate series of events, the two are forced to take off in the hot air balloon in the midst of a storm.   Then the adventures begin -for the next decade - from America to the frozen Arctic to Nova Scotia to Europe.  At first they are together but eventually Wash must make his own way - never letting go of the memory of the friendship that provided his life path. 
Slavery and science - sometimes hard to believe but a well written imagining.

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