This is a novel of resistance—of multiple resistances. 

Characters weave in and out of the stories told by Lendsinda, Simeon, the old woman, and men who were once enslaved. I lost track of these characters’ threads now and then, and the tangle of places and connections took me out of the story a few times. Some stories were also more active than others, so my interest rose and ebbed throughout.

It’s also an important engagement with Canada’s history of enslavement and white supremacy, which is so often overlooked in favour of the universal “free country”. Thomas shows Canada through Black and Indigenous men and women’s eyes, shows realities of harassment, kidnapping, criminalization, and assault of racialized people in Canada; and if not that, of looking the other way, disregarding acts of violence, theft, and exploitation that have been enacted on Black and Indigenous people throughout the history of this land. The stories are singular, unusual and, as Lendsinda herself says, unlikely. They are representative, a metaphorical reality. This novel is spun from answers to a series of “what if” questions that make up a life, a community, a culture, a history.

Fundamentally, In the Upper Country speaks of resilience and survival, honouring the thousands of real, skilled, enslaved, racialized, connected people who have lived in the United States and Canada.

Title: In the Upper Country
Author: Kai Thomas
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: 4.00
Pub Date: January 10, 2023

T H R E E • W O R D S

Compelling • Intricate • Enlightening

📖 S Y N O P S I S

Young Lensinda Martin is a protegee of a crusading Black journalist in mid-18th century southwestern Ontario, finding a home in a community founded by refugees from the slave-owning states of the American south—whose agents do not always stay on their side of the border.

One night, a neighbouring farmer summons Lensinda after a slave hunter is shot dead on his land by an old woman recently arrived via the Underground Railroad. When the old woman, whose name is Cash, refuses to flee before the authorities arrive, the farmer urges Lensinda to gather testimony from her before Cash is condemned.

But Cash doesn't want to confess. Instead she proposes a barter: a story for a story. And so begins an extraordinary exchange of tales that reveal the interwoven history of Canada and the United States; of Indigenous peoples from a wide swath of what is called North America and of the Black men and women brought here into slavery and their free descendents on both sides of the border.

As Cash's time runs out, Lensinda realizes she knows far less than she believed not only about the complicated tapestry of her nation, but also of her own family history. And it seems that Cash may carry a secret that could shape Lensinda's destiny.

💭 T H O U G H T S

For the past couple of years I have been doing my own personal Book of the Month project, whereby I select one new release title to prioritize each month. In the Upper Country was my January 2023 selection and while it has taken me a lot longer to get to it than I'd hoped, #Historathon2024 felt like the ideal moment to finally pick it up.

Kai Thomas has delivered a refreshing and profound novel, one detailing the Black and Indigenous relationship along the Canada/U.S. border. It's a story of interwoven histories, of land, of love, of survival and of familial upheaval starring two strong, complex female characters at its center. It's the type of story that expanded my knowledge and made me want to learn more. I greatly appreciated the author's note, which details the author's thought process in putting this narrative together and where he took creative liberties.

While the story is compelling, the structure felt disjointed and confusing at times. There definitely needed to be some way in which to identify change of voice and/or timelines in order to help the reader follow along and grasp the entirety of what this story had to offer. There were times when I didn't know whose perspective I was reading from and it would have been easy enough to include some form of simple indicator.

In the Upper Country is packed with historical detail, offers a fictional account of the interwoven stories that have shaped North America, and introduces a new voice in Canadian historical fiction. Kai Thomas is definitely an author I'd read more from in the future and will be keeping an eye on.

📚 R E A D • I F • Y O U • L I K E
• North American historical fiction
• fresh perspectives
• Canadian literature

⚠️ CW: slavery, racism, racial slurs, torture, brutality, hanging, whipping, murder, violence, gun violence, kidnapping, abandonment, death, grief, child death, animal death, animal cruelty, war, colonization, rape, pregnancy, stillborn

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"For in the absence of sense, fear and violence would reign."

This is a strong debut and an author I will keep an eye out for. The writing presented and complimented the story well. There were many narratives that at times made it difficult to follow the connections. Though I enjoyed the characters, I found it hard to engage with them fully. This is what I felt took away from the story. It is something that needs to be read and understood though.

I really enjoyed the first two thirds of this book. Sinda is so strong and such an interesting character. Later in the book, though, I started to struggle to keep all the stories / characters / relationships organized in my head. Felt like some characters were introduced in a way that suggested we would know them more deeply, only to be reduced to flat characters later in the book. Would have liked a family tree!!

I would have rated higher, but the ending left a bit to be desired. I wanted more at the end. I think it was unnecessary to end on a cliff hanger when the whole story led up to what was supposed to happen. Other than that I really enjoyed the story and made me want to research greater about this time period in Canada and the relationship between black slaves fleeing the US and indigenous people of the Great Lakes

 In the Upper Country is a challenging and thought provoking piece of historical fiction looking at the connections between the United States and Canada, between Black and Indigenous peoples and the impact of colonisation. The challenge comes from the fact that there are actually two stories being told and we are moved from one to the other and back again. Figuring out the surprising connections between them is a challenge the reader gets to share with the characters. I especially enjoyed the setting, a refugee town in southwestern Ontario for Blacks fleeing slavery. I don’t think I’ve read a story set in such a community and it added a new perspective to my understanding of slavery. This story felt fresh and was undeniably well written. 

A really important story about enslaved African Americans who found freedom in Canada. Also the relationships between white, black and native Americans. An important story but admit I found it quite hard to follow all the characters. 

"Beware a dangerous tale, it is a knife that must be used, or left to lay." –Simeon

Having not read any fiction that portrays the lives of Black women and men who sought freedom across the border and who formed relations and relationships with Indigenous people, I was eager to read Thomas' novel. Add in that he is of Trini heritage and I was even more intrigued to see what he could do with this narrative. I was not disappointed.

Thomas uses a format that is inherent in our culture of passing on stories orally, of trading tales that bind and allow us to forge deeper community. The exchange of stories between Lensinda and the old woman is both illuminating and reflective. We learn of how a helping hand is extended, the ways in which persons flee bondage and are shepherded across into a community that welcomes and shields. We also witness how such a community thrives and supports each other.

And even when violence and dark actions were portrayed it was not for gratuitous satisfaction but to pprtray the reality under which Black bodies existed. There were many ways in which this narrative could have become mired in trauma, as is the history that is being depicted, but Thomas is thoughtful and intent on bringing stories of freedom fought and won to the fore. 

I was reminded of other books that tackled similar stories and that were structured similarly and all were by Caribbean authors or authors of Caribbean heritage: The Confessions of Frannie Langton, The Polished Hoe, Remembrance, and Book of the Little Axe. It must be something in the blood, this way of rendering such history on the page.