Washington Black

Washington Black’s story begins as an 11-year-old slave who is taken in by the plantation owner’s brother, Titch, and, after incurring a burn that leaves his face disfigured and then witnessing a tragic event for which he is blamed, "Wash" is urgently sent out into the greater world by way of a hot air balloon. What follows is a wondrous, harrowing journey spanning continents as Titch and Wash struggle to leave the ghosts of their past behind, immersing themselves in scientific invention and discovery. Both arresting and defying categorization, Esi Edugyan gives us a sagaciously crafted, deeply inspired novel unlike any other. Recommended By Aubrey W., Powells.com

“Enthralling” — The Boston Globe
“Extraordinary” — The Seattle Times
“A rip-roaring tale” — The Washington Post

FINALIST FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE and THE SCOTIABANK GILLER PRIZE

From the author of the award-winning international bestseller Half-Blood Blues comes a dazzling adventure story, about a boy who rises from the ashes of slavery to become a free man of the world.

George Washington Black, or “Wash,” an 11-year-old field slave on a Barbados sugar plantation, is terrified to be chosen by his master’s brother as his manservant. To his surprise, the eccentric Christopher Wilde turns out to be a naturalist, explorer, inventor, and abolitionist. Soon Wash is initiated into a world where a flying machine can carry a man across the sky, where even a boy born in chains may embrace a life of dignity and meaning — and where two people, separated by an impossible divide, can begin to see each other as human. But when a man is killed and a bounty is placed on Wash’s head, Christopher and Wash must abandon everything. What follows is their flight along the eastern coast of America, and, finally, to a remote outpost in the Arctic. What brings Christopher and Wash together will tear them apart, propelling Wash even further across the globe in search of his true self. From the blistering cane fields of the Caribbean to the frozen Far North, from the earliest aquariums of London to the eerie deserts of Morocco, Washington Black tells a story of self-invention and betrayal, of love and redemption, of a world destroyed and made whole again, and asks the question, What is true freedom?

“Perfectly executed....Soaring....More than a tale of human bondage, it’s also an enthralling meditation on the weight of freedom, wrapped in a rousing adventure story stretching to the ends of the earth.” Renée Graham, The Boston Globe

“Terrifically exciting....An engrossing hybrid of 19th-century adventure and contemporary subtlety, a rip-roaring tale of peril imbued with our most persistent strife....Discover what the rest of the world already knows: Edugyan is a magical writer.” Ron Charles, The Washington Post

“Riveting.... [A] towering achievement...Edugyan is one of our sharpest and deepest writers of historical fiction.” David Canfield, Entertainment Weekly

“A lush, exhilarating travelogue reminiscent of Jules Verne...Edugyan, like her hero, can paint an indelible scene.” Laura Miller, The New Yorker

Esi Edugyan is author of the novels The Second Life of Samuel Tyne and Half-Blood Blues, which won the Scotiabank Giller Prize and was a finalist for the Man Booker Prize, the Governor General's Literary Award, the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize and the Orange Prize. She lives in Victoria, British Columbia.