Lawrence Hill provides readers with an engaging historical story about American slavery and the slave trade between about 1759-1805.

This work of historical fiction centers around the fictional character of Aminata Diallo, a woman who slave traders snatched from her parents at the age of 11. Readers follow Diallo from the interior of Africa to Charleston, South Carolina; from the indigo fields of the low-country to the cosmopolitan centers of Charleston and New York City; from New York City to Nova Scotia; Nova Scotia to Sierra Leone; and from Sierra Leone to London.

Throughout all of Diallo's journeys, readers get insight into what slavery and freedom were like for Africans and African Americans, how slavery impacted the American Revolution, and the post-revolutionary colonization movement.

A fantastic read with a sad, but gripping story.

Aangrijpend en schokkend verhaal over slavernij. Het zet je aan het denken over wat 'beschaafde' landen als Engeland en Nederland mensen in het verleden hebben aangedaan en zou verplichte kost moeten zijn op elke middelbare school.

Wow this book was amazing! It was so well written. At some parts it was unbearably sad. It breaks my heart what people can do to each other.

**** I am happy to say I am re-reading this book for our book club.

I really enjoyed this, though it was heartbreaking pretty much the whole way through.

An unbelievably gripping work of historical fiction. This tale follows the life of Aminata Diallo, a west-African-born woman who was kidnapped by slavers at the age of 11 and matched to the ocean, where she is forced to sail to the states. A beautifully written story. Alive with the fire of Aminata's life, this book will stay with the reader for many "revolutions of the moon". Shocking in it's reflective truth, Lawrence Hill pulls you in and doesn't let go. What I loved about this book was that it was unpredictable, like real life. It did not fit a cookie cutter mold of fiction that unfortunately some historical fiction writers fall into. This book was breathtaking and artfully detailed.

I highly recommend this one! 5 out of 5

This is a beautifully terrible book, the events that thousands upon thousands of slaves experienced is heartbreakingly terrible. The writing is beautiful, it’s captivating and I couldn’t stop reading.

They wanted to tell her story, share it in the newspapers so other’s could read the horrors she endured and survived. They would write it for her so the tale would be told just right, but Aminata would write it herself. She knew her story better than anyone, even though she was very young when first captured, she remembered it all. She remembered the journey on the slave ship across the sea, the awfulness of life on the plantation.
A lesser person would’ve given up on life however Aminata rose above. She learned how to read and write, she learned English and earned admiration from many. Her cleverness would take her away from the plantation, across the United States to New York, to Novia Scotia, and even eventually back to Africa. The life of Aminata though filled with agonies and sorrow, contained happiness and hope. Hope for one day where slavery did not exist and everyone including herself-would be free.
This book was pure excellence. The story was so heartbreaking and heartfelt. Even after a few pages in, I immediately felt the connection with Aminata and though knew somewhat of the outcome, I was still enthralled. The author did a spectacular job of storytelling and I agonized over putting the book down each time, wanting to just read more. I also appreciated the research that went into the story, and learned about the voyage from Novia Scotia to Africa-very fascinating. Highly recommended, read it..you won’t regret it!

This book was titled No one Knows My Name when I read it. I did not recognize it when Goodreads called it The Book of Negroes.

10000000+ star rating!
I re-read this every once in a while and realized I never put down a review. I read it with its alternate book title The Book Of Negroes (which is also the name of the miniseries).

It will make you laugh. It will make you cry. You will learn. And you will unlearn. Easily in my top ten books. I haven't found many people outside of Canada that know about this book, so I'm sharing to encourage all.
CBC made a mini-series from this book - that people call another version of Roots - and it is absolutely stellar. (Although I liked the book better).
This one is timeless.