Historical fiction book · Curated
Washington Black
Esi Edugyan · historical fiction
In 1830 on Faith Plantation in Barbados, eleven-year-old George Washington Black is taken from the cane fields to serve Christopher “Titch” Wilde, who is building a hydrogen balloon he calls the Cloud-cutter—and when a death puts a bounty on Wash, the two cut the tether and flee. Esi Edugyan’s 2018 novel is adventure historical fiction of the 1830s, from an enslaved boy’s escape out of Barbados through Virginia, the Arctic, Nova Scotia, London, and Morocco.
Why read it: A widely searched adventure novel—the Edugyan title readers look up by name (Giller Prize, Booker shortlist), and a Barbados-voyage counterpart to The Underground Railroad already on the shelf.
About this historical novel
Washington Black by Esi Edugyan is historical fiction set around 1830–1836 in the Regency / Napoleonic period with key settings including Barbados, Faith Plantation, Virginia, the Arctic. In 1830 on Faith Plantation in Barbados, eleven-year-old George Washington Black is taken from the cane fields to serve Christopher “Titch” Wilde, who is building a hydrogen balloon he calls the Cloud-cutter—and when a death puts a bounty on Wash, the two cut the tether and flee. Esi Edugyan’s 2018 novel is adventure historical fiction of the 1830s, from an enslaved boy’s escape out of Barbados through Virginia, the Arctic, Nova Scotia, London, and Morocco.
On HisFic we tag it under 6. Adventure & epic and 1. Literary historical fiction so you can pair it with similar story types. Recurring themes include slavery, freedom, science, escape, and art. A widely searched adventure novel—the Edugyan title readers look up by name (Giller Prize, Booker shortlist), and a Barbados-voyage counterpart to The Underground Railroad already on the shelf.
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Plot summary
In 1830 on Faith Plantation in Barbados, eleven-year-old George Washington Black is taken from the cane fields to serve Christopher “Titch” Wilde, who is building a hydrogen balloon he calls the Cloud-cutter—and when a death puts a bounty on Wash, the two cut the tether and flee. Esi Edugyan’s 2018 novel is adventure historical fiction of the 1830s, from an enslaved boy’s escape out of Barbados through Virginia, the Arctic, Nova Scotia, London, and Morocco. A widely searched adventure novel—the Edugyan title readers look up by name (Giller Prize, Booker shortlist), and a Barbados-voyage counterpart to The Underground Railroad already on the shelf.
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Eras
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- Kindred · Octavia E. Butler
On her twenty-sixth birthday in 1976 Los Angeles, Dana Franklin is yanked to a Maryland plantation whenever Rufus Weylin, a red-haired boy who will grow up to enslave her ancestors, is about to die—and she has to keep him alive or never be born. Octavia E. Butler’s 1979 novel is time-slip historical fiction of the early nineteenth-century South: each stay is longer, her white husband Kevin is stranded with her, and the past does not return her whole.
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- Pride and Prejudice · Jane Austen
When wealthy bachelor Mr. Bingley takes Netherfield, Mrs. Bennet is determined to marry off a daughter—but it is the proud Mr. Darcy, and Elizabeth Bennet’s first impression of him, that turns a Hertfordshire season into the most famous courtship in English fiction. Jane Austen’s 1813 novel is Regency historical romance of manners, money, and a woman who will not marry without respect.
Regions & places
Latin America · North America · Britain & Ireland · Africa
Barbados · Faith Plantation · Virginia · the Arctic · Nova Scotia · London · Morocco
Themes
- slavery
- freedom
- science
- escape
- art
Tags
adventure · award-winner