LOved the narrator - even though she was "out of time" (a literate, feminist, educated slave) I still believed in her and her story.
Brilliant (but Andrea Levy's Long Song was funnier)

Possibly one of the most amazing books I've ever read. I really, truly enjoyed the book. It was incredibly difficult and disturbing subject matter, but so well written. Aminata Diallo is a remarkable and memorable character. It deserved to be selected as the book Canada should read for 2009.

This book is EPIC! It was so incredibly well written and well spun. I'm beyond impressed with how well Lawrence Hill mapped out the life of Aminata Diallo, from her brutal capture all the way until the end of her amazing life. I was completely drawn into this story from the start and felt very attached to Aminata throughout. She was so real. All of the characters had such depth and layers. While the topic is heavy and the brutality of the situation was intense and heart wrenching, it is such a necessary story. It should be a required reading in school so that more people can understand the truth of the slave trade and the lives of those captured. It's the narrator's strength and courage that make the story bearable. Her ability to keep on going when all the odds are against her. It's truly a magnificent journey that all Americans should read.

An interesting read with some strong characters, but I found it way too modern to really buy the story.

Oh my. What a heavy yet admirable story.

In 1755, an 11-year-old girl is abducted from her village in her home continent of Africa and carried across the "big river" to a land called America. Aminata, a child, is forced to grow up quickly as she encounters the slave trade that has imprisoned her. The skills her now dead mother had taught her come in useful once she proves she isn't just saying she can do what she knows. In a way, her skills provide her a bit of protection from the harshest treatment the enslaved African and American-born black people are subjected to. As she ages, she finds love, loses her love and her children, and presses forward, never giving up hope for life and freedom.

Told in Aminata's voice as she nears the end of her life and has been sheltered by abolitionists in London in the early 1800s, we are taken on the journey of her life as a slave striving for freedom, for herself and her people. This is a fictionalized account of a true story and the real woman who authored The Book of Negroes (a real historical document that can be found today at the National Archives at Kew). Her insights and experiences about white people are as relevant today as they were in the late 1700s and early 1800s, proving that we still have a lot of work to do to repair the damage the white people have done to our black siblings.

Absolutely loved it. An amazing story which really delves into the various circumstances enslaved folks experienced throughout North America. One of the first books I've read which paints a very vivid picture of the mechanism of slave trade, and also delves into the psyche of society. Really made me think about the parallels with our current society and its roots in the outcome of slave trade. Beautifully written, poignant and thought-provoking.

Amazing, beautifully written story about slavery and the slave trade in the 13 Colonies, Africa and Britain, and one woman's struggle to be free. It was easy to get transported and lost in the story, which should make anyone stop and think. A must-read for all, but particularly white Americans like myself. This one will stay with me for quite some time.

This was another book that was difficult to rate. It was a powerful story, one that was hard to read in parts but necessary. It needs to be told and needs to be read by as many people as possible. At the same time, while the author did a great job setting down the events of the narrator's life, I didn't feel like he captured her emotions as well. There were some deeply traumatic things that happened to the narrator but I didn't feel the emotions when I read those parts. At the same time, the book was already over 450 pages so it's probably hard to strike a balance between telling the what of the story and capturing the right emotions without making the book go on forever.