Washington Black
By Esi Edugyan
Serpent’s Tail
Recently longlisted for the Booker, Esi Edugyan’s novel Washington Black is a wholly original take on the complex subject of slavery.
The opening of the novel is bloody, with Eduyan refusing to shy away from describing the brutality endured by slaves. The barbarity of slavery and the systemic oppression it breeds is luridly portrayed. As the eponymous Washington Black recounts his astonishing development from boy to man, from slave to freeman, he undergoes incredible bouts of self-invention while always teetering on the brink of destruction. Initially set in the cane fields of a Barbadian sugar plantation, the novel evolves into an unexpected globetrotting epic as it traverses through the sweltering heat of the Caribbean to the sub-zero cold of the Arctic.
Throughout, Eduyan brings into question the nature of humanity and the tension produced between our need to belong and the reality of an unjust social system that functions by distinction. Her nuanced prose is framed by rich scientific language which is intensified when Washington discovers his growing talents in the field and begins to pursue a more artistic path.
This novel is pacey and fraught with adventure and is perhaps one of the most brilliantly unconventional accounts of slavery I have encountered. It is both violent and beautiful as it leaves you questioning a history that you assumed you knew.
Words: Ciara Haley
