August Book Report: Washington Black

I picked up Washington Black by Esu Edugyan as part of an assortment to be discussed at monthly faculty book club meetings at my school.  It was a book that had been on my list for a while thanks to its inclusion on a bunch of “best of 2018” lists.  I’m so glad that I picked it up because it is a powerful book one I enjoyed.

The book is the story of Washington Black, an 11 year old who is enslaved in Barbados when the story opens.  The author shows us slavery from Wash’s point of view and though it’s not news to experience the profound disempowerment and denial of humanity that the institution of slavery created, it is powerful to experience it in the eyes of a child.  Wash knows who he is and what that means and he is familiar with the expectations in the sugarcane fields where he spends his days.  When he and his mother Kit are unexpectedly asked to serve as house slaves for an evening, sorting out the expectations of this temporary new role fill him with fear about the expectations.  In his uncertainty, the reader sees how precarious life is for the enslaved, who are denied agency even as they are expected to act.  In these scenes of the novel, Wash’s profound disempowerment resonates.

Wash attracts the interest of a kind man, Titch, the brother of the plantation owner.  From that seemingly random connection, Wash’s life will experience profound change.   As Wash escapes slavery and begins to make his way in the 19th century, the reader travels along.  The uncertainty of his status lingers long past Wash’s escape from slavery and Edugyan makes much of that element of his experience.  As the reader comes to feel real affection and anxiety for Wash, Edugyan has the opportunity to ask us into the world of inequality and anxiety that belongs to Wash and people like him.  I found myself thinking about the themes of the novel when I wasn’t reading and and immersed in the story when I was reading.  It was the best of both experiences.

Washington Black deserves its spot on “best of” lists, both for the splendid writing and also for the power of the story.  It’s a book that will linger long past the last page and one I look forward to re-reading time and time again.