Books about slavery

The Prophets, by Robert Jones Jr.

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A cotton plantation in the deep South does not seem a likely place for a tender romance. But amidst all of the horror and hardship, Isaiah has Samuel and Samuel has Isaiah. Separated from the rest of the slaves by their roles working in the barn with the animals, the two men have created a place of refuge, intimacy and hope for themselves. Their relationship is acknowledged but mostly ignored by the rest of the plantation. Until that is, a fellow slave seeks to gain the Master’s favour by preaching the gospel.
Suddenly, Samuel and Isaiah’s love, which was once so pure, is seen as sinful and a danger to the harmony of the wider plantation. As the enslaved begin to turn on one another, the two men’s future on the plantation becomes more and more uncertain. Read More »

The Sealwoman’s Gift, by Sally Magnusson

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In 1627, Barbary pirates raided the shores of Iceland and captured over 400 of its people, including 250 from a small island. Among that number were the island’s pastor, his pregnant wife and their three children. Although the raid is well-known, the fate of the captives, the women and children in particular, is not. Ásta, wife and niece to Lutheran Icelandic pastors, finds herself ripped from her quiet life on a small island, sees her friends and neighbours killed around her and is forced onto a stinking ship. To add to her hardships, Ásta gives birth on the slave ship, on the way to her uncertain future. Upon reaching Algiers, Ásta is bought by a wealthy man and set to work in his house. Ásta deals with the loss of her freedom and her children by escaping into the stories of her homeland. Read More »

Homegoing, by Yaa Gyasi

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Effia and Esi are sisters, but they have never met. Born in Ghana, on Africa’s Gold Coast, they are destined for very different futures. One will be sold into slavery and journey to America. The other will become the wife of a white man, a slave trader. The consequences of these very different fates will be felt through the generations. This is their story and the story of those who came after them. Read More »

The Underground Railroad, by Colson Whitehead

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Cora is a slave on a cotton plantation in Georgia. Her already hellish existence as a slave is made worse by the fact that her mother escaped years ago, leaving Cora, just a child, alone in the world. As a result, she is an outcast among her fellow slaves. Faced with her bitter future, she jumps at the chance of escape, in the form of Caesar, a slave newly arrived from Virginia.
Caesar tells her of his contacts with the Underground Railroad, which nobody believes operates so far south. One dark night they escape the plantation and make their way to the nearest station. The Underground Railroad is a physical railway, built underground and drawn along by a steam engine. Secret stations and station masters help to hide and transport slaves to freedom. But Cora is pursued by a terrifying slave-hunter, determined to catch her after he failed to do so with her mother. Read More »