Couldn't be bothered to read more than 50 pages. The writing is mediocre, the effect overdone ("firestick", etc) and tedious despite what would otherwise be important subject matter and an interesting story.

[aka The Book of Negroes]
I loved this book. I have been wanting something just like this for a while, but I didn't know how to find it. For some reason, I kept relating it to Ahab's Wife, one of my favorite books. The scope and historical setting (totally different in each book) were on the same level and each is an epic story centered on a woman's experiences, told in first person. This was a story of slavery from a perspective I had not come across before. The narrator Aminata Diallo is remarkable and a character who will stay with me for a long time.

I heartily recommend this to anyone who enjoys historical novels, epics like [b:House of the Spirits|9328|The House of the Spirits|Isabel Allende|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1621672028l/9328._SY75_.jpg|3374404] and [b:Ahab's Wife|7742|Ahab's Wife, or The Star-Gazer|Sena Jeter Naslund|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1442524251l/7742._SY75_.jpg|10803] and books where the main character is a strong woman.

This book had been sitting on my shelf for a long time. Having grown up in Nova Scotia, 40 minutes away from Shelbourne, I knew this was an important read about a topic not often talked about when I was a child.

This was such a beautifully devastating sweeping historical book. What I loved most about this book is how language was such an important part of Aminata’s life. The way she described the world around her changed as she did. How frightening and disorienting it was to be surrounded by people you can’t understand and in a place you don’t have the words to comprehend.

The author spent the right amount of time in each part of Aminata’s life so that you could get a glimpse of how other people’s circumstances were. While the book was based around Aminata, you didn’t feel like it was only following her life and experiences.

This a book is for anyone who enjoys sweeping historical novels that are heavily people and location focused.

This is a fictional retelling of a real historical period where slaves who fought on the British side during the American Revolution were offered sanctuary in Nova Scotia and then later shipped to Freetown in Sierra Leone.

The book follows the story of one African girl, Aminata, who is captured, sold into slavery, runs away, and becomes one of the blacks who works for the British. She writes the names of the black folks who have qualified for the British offer in "The Book of Negroes." But once they get to Nova Scotia, they find life is hard, the Brits don't follow through on giving them the land they were promised, and race riots decimate the black community. Aminata takes up the offer to be shipped to Sierra Leone, where she hopes to find her way back to the village where she was born.

I found the book to be just a little didactic in areas - it was obvious that Hill is trying to teach about lesser-known history of black folks in Canada. However, Aminata is such a likeable and relatable character that it doesn't matter. I liked this and am curious now about the miniseries based on the book.

Bringing the pages alive and making you understand the depth and breadth of the heartache that our main character endures, Lawrence Hill has a fan in me. Lawrence did not cover my eyes, but put it all out for me to feel and digest. What Aminata endured, what she saw, what became of her, and how all these events would make me feel upon reading the final page.

Rassismus, Missbrauch, Sklaverei – das sind alles keine Themen, die man mal eben gemütlich weglesen möchte. Aminatas Geschichte wird lebendig erzählt: mal wunderbar detailverliebt, mal erschreckend grausam, oft sogar witzig – und auch fast immer glaubhaft. Da sie eine ganze Lebensspanne umfasst, kommt sie dabei nicht um eine gewisse Episodenhaftigkeit herum. Vielleicht ist aber der einzig wirkliche Kritikpunkt der, dass sie es mir zu leicht gemacht hat. Dennoch: "Ich habe einen Namen" ist ein gutes Buch und ich habe es gerne gelesen.

Powerful novel.

Thought provoking book. Author does a good job at capturing the main character's voice during each age, from young girl to old woman.