A review by jedore
Washington Black by Esi Edugyan

dark sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

“In any case, it was then I recognized that my own values… they are not the only, not the best, values in existence. I understood there were many ways of being in the world, that to privilege one set of rigid beliefs over another was to lose something. Everything is bizarre, and everything has value. Or if not value, at least merits investigation.”

Washington Black is the story of a young black man who narrowly escaped a life of slavery and entered into the scientific world with the help of the younger brother of his owner.

This book checked all the boxes to be a favorite…historical fiction, strong character development, anti-racist, written by a woman. It seemed somewhat similar to one of my all-time favorites, The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert. But, I just couldn’t connect to it. By the end, my brain would totally stray while I was reading, so it took me way longer to finish than it should have. 

Maybe the characters weren’t deep enough…maybe I felt disconnected from the settings…there was definitely nothing in the storyline that captivated me. So it was a mildly painful slow burn for me. 

Clearly it was just me as others rated it quite a bit higher, so don’t rule it out.