Join us for a discussion of this month's books, James by Percival Everett and/or Washington Black by Esi Edugyan. Read either book, or both--we'll compare and contrast! New members are always welcome. Copies of the books may be available at the Ask Desk.
Synopsis of James: When the enslaved Jim overhears that he is about to be sold to a man in New Orleans, he ends up on a dangerous and transcendent journey by raft down the Mississippi River toward the elusive Free States and beyond. A brilliant, action-packed reimagining of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn told from Jim's point of view, in which Jim’s agency, intelligence and compassion are shown in a radically new light.
Synopsis of Washington Black: Washington Black is an eleven-year-old field slave who knows no other life than the Barbados sugar plantation where he was born. When his master's eccentric brother chooses him to be his manservant, Wash is terrified of the cruelties he is certain await him. But Christopher Wilde, or "Titch," is a naturalist, explorer, scientist, inventor, and abolitionist. He initiates Wash into a world where a flying machine can carry a man across the sky; where two people, separated by an impossible divide, might begin to see each other as human; and where a boy born in chains can embrace a life of dignity and meaning.