Washington Black by Esi Edugyan

 

George Washington Black is born as a slave on a sugar plantation in Barbados in the early 1830's.  The slave plantations were known as the worst of the slave environments and Wash, as he was known, saw evidence daily of the brutality and indifference to human life that those plantations embodied.  His life was constant brute physical labor in the fields, punctuated with the sudden cruelty of overseers or his master, whose only goal was the total domination of the individuals who worked there.  He did have one protector, a huge powerful woman named Big Kit.  

When Wash was eleven, his master demanded that he and Big Kit serve at the table one night.  This was unheard of, as field slaves had no idea how to serve or take care of the fine china and crystal.  They suspected that it was only a showpiece designed to end in some punishment meant to serve as a warning to the others.  But they went.  His master was a cold man but his brother, Christopher, seems a different sort.  Christopher is a scientific man, interested in exploration and discoveries.  He sees in Wash someone who might help him with his latest obsession, a hot air balloon.  He asks his brother to give him Wash's services and the brother surprisely agrees.

Thus begins a different life for Wash.  His master starts to educate him, showing him how to make various measurements and to read  Christopher, or Titch as he is known, is shocked to see the artistic talent that Wash has and soon Wash's life is full of new knowledge and ease.  He is content for the first time but when a man on the plantation dies in Wash's presence, both he and Titch know that someone will have to pay for the death and Wash is the most likely candidate.  The two escape at night in the balloon and soon are off to the colonies and then on to the Arctic to find Titch's father.  

Over time, Wash moves from the Arctic to Nova Scotia, where he meets a famous marine biologist and his daughter, and then to London.  He becomes separated from Titch along the way and he realizes that his life won't be complete until he can see Titch again and resolve the mysteries of his childhood.  He travels the world until he finds him and learns what he can about his origins.

This novel was nominated for the Booker Prize in 2018.  It is a searing look at the repulsive practices of slavery and the absolute waste of intelligence and talent such a system entailed.  Yet the character of Wash is such that he never gives up hope and fights to insure that he can live a life of meaning.  This book is recommended for readers of historical and literary fiction.