I have wanted to read this book ever since I was first introduced to it via CBC’s Canada Reads in 2009. Not surprisingly, it was the clear winner that year. So I was super pleased to learn this was a book club pick and I could zoom it straight up the TBR reads pile without too much guilt (I mean, I only have 5 shelves of a very large bookcase full of books to read). And what a great book! I’m very glad I got a chance to read this book and only wish I had done so sooner.
Lawrence Hill’s The Book of Negroes is a fascinating read, one I found very difficult to put down. From the very beginning we are introduced to 80-something Aminata (Ah-ME-naw-ta) Diallo and in a true storyteller’s voice, we are told about her past, from growing up a young Muslim girl in a small village in Africa, learning to read a few words from the Koran, something unheard of for girls, but Aminata showed an affinity and desire for written language from a young age, to learning from her mid-wife mother how to deliver babies. At eleven years of age, Aminata’s world is ripped apart when she is abducted by slavers and taken to the Americas on a slave ship. Her knowledge of midwifery the only thing setting her apart from the other prisoners and allowing her such privileges as helping the ship’s doctor which allow her to document the plight of her fellow captives.
It is on this slave ship that she makes a connection with her fellow captives, learning the names of each one of them. Arising from this is the US publication title, Someone Knows My Name. Names are a very powerful thing, and Aminata’s story gives a voice to each one of these men and women ripped from their homes to work as slaves in America. But Lawrence Hill’s book is no mere modern day Roots (some of you may recognize the Alex Haley slave narrative, later turned TV mini-series, tracing the story of his family’s roots from Africa on the slave ships and the subsequent atrocities they endure working as slaves). Aminata, named Meenie Dee by her white owners, lives an extraordinary life, one that takes her from the southern plantations to freedom in the north. Her extraordinary journey takes her back to the shores of Africa as she searches for family and familiarity, ultimately ending up in England, putting her story down on paper to allow the Abolitionists to fight for an end to the slave ships. Her thirst for education and the written word thrust her into a position of social leadership, looked up to and trusted by her fellow captives and freed slaves alike. But there is also much sacrifice in her life. What she gains as a community leader and educated freed slave, she must lose in family, companionship and a sense of a true home.
An incredibly remarkable story, The Book of Negroes will captivate you from page one right up until you close the back cover.
What my fellow book clubbers had to say: We had a one of a kind meeting this past September, for a one of a kind book. Our dear member F hosted not only the Windsor Book Club crew but also the Indigo Lakeshore Book Clubbers at her beautiful home, preparing a delicious home cooked meal for us. We sat out on her deck, basking in the autumn sunshine while chatting books and getting to know each other better. It was a delightful day we all enjoyed, capped off by piñata fun, donated by S who makes them. The book was also enjoyed by all, despite the difficulty some of us had with the subject matter (slavery) and trying to believe, from our 21st century perspective, that anyone could have committed such atrocities against their fellow man at one time in history. But there it is, imperialism at it’s not so finest. The British were thankfully instrumental at halting the slave ships in the early 1800s. The U.S. on the other hand, continued the atrocious practice of using slaves up to the civil war which broke out in 1861. Unfortunately, black and white inequality continued for over a century following the bloody war, and don’t even get me started on my opinions about the current day racism that still abounds freely in the U.S., but that is a topic for another blog post…..
Till next time, happy reading!
L
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