Every February since the 1920s, the United States has celebrated Black History, and our neighbors up in Canada first observed the holiday in 1979. Like us, Canadians continue to celebrate Black History Month by uplifting and learning about “the legacy and contributions of Black people in Canada and their communities.” In honor of that legacy, today’s Book Club Spotlight, Washington Black, is a historical fiction novel by the incredible Canadian author Esi Edugyan. Edugyan, daughter of Ghanaian immigrants and an accomplished novelist, is not only the first Black woman to win the prestigious Scotiabank Giller Prize, but she won it twice!
Deep in the sugar cane plantations of Barbados, naturalist Christopher Wilde and his newly appointed eleven-year-old manservant Washington Black burst out of the treetops on a flying balloon named ‘The Cloud Cutter’. They are fleeing from Faith plantation, where Washington, a slave, has just witnessed the death of a white man, meaning he could very well be next. The pair journey across the world together, chasing after ghosts, until Washington must take up the mantle and chase after Christopher’s. A whip-smart marine illustrator and aspiring scientist, Washington Black may be physically free from the constraints of slavery, but its history refuses to let him go.
“I understood there were many ways of being in the world, that to privilege one rigid set of beliefs over another was to lose something. Everything is bizarre, and everything has value. Or if not value, at least merits investigation.”
– Esi Edugyan
Shortlisted for the Booker Prize (which Edugyan would go on to chair in 2023), Washington Black takes a look at what comes after slavery. Young Washington is taken from his world and his family by this White Savior, who ultimately leaves him. Washington, reeling from his abandonment with nothing else in the world, must create his future while facing systemic and racial challenges wherever he goes. Washington has a brilliant mind for marine biology but cannot exist in the same scientific circles as his white counterparts of the 1830s. It simply isn’t done. Even as a free man, slavery has left a mark on his life, physically, emotionally, and in his pursuit of meaning. This adventure novel takes its readers on a trip around the globe. Adult Book Club Groups will explore new locales, meet strange characters, and discuss how our destiny is unwittingly shaped by those around us.
If you’re interested in requesting Washington Black for your book club, you can find the Request Form here. There are 10 copies. (A librarian must request items)
Edugyan, Esi. Washington Black. Vintage. 2019
