A good escape for Black History Month
Washington Black has the yearning for his homeland that any slave must have had in 1830. The difference is that “Wash” is Esi Edguyan’s title character in her latest book. He’s 11 years old and along with his protector, Big Kit, he dreams of escaping to Kit’s beloved Dahomey. Ms. Edguyan places their desire within the framework of their owner’s cruelty. But, instead of going to their homeland, Wash escapes from the Barbados sugar plantation in a Cloud Cutter with his master’s brother, Christopher (Titch) Wilde. They make their way to the Artic. Wash discovers he must not only adapt to a new country but also, he must safely survive. Through his adventures, he learns to distinguish friends from enemies in both black and white worlds.
Edugyan’s engaging novel leads Wash through New England, Nova Scotia, London and Morocco. Wash describes the cities and lands as well as the people and their reaction to him. He tells how he adjusts to different cultures and social norms. During his travels, he analyzes his situations and defines how he will live as a free black man.
Speaking at the Philadelphia Free Library in May 2019, Edugyan said that she enjoys finding historical footnotes and uncovering marginalized Black communities. The inspiring footnote for Washington Black was Jorge Luis Borges’ short story, The Improbable Impostor Tom Castro. From this, Ms. Edugyan extracted Andrew Bogle, a Black servant and a former Caribbean slave who was sent from England to Australia to verify the identity of a missing aristocrat. Edugyan said that as she started writing about Wash, she tried to write how Bogle was thinking. But as she wrote, the story took on a life of its own, leaving only small parts of Bogle.
Using footnotes and marginalized people, Ms. Edugyan has created two other historical novels which cover the globe. Her first novel, The Second Life of Samuel Tyne, is the story of a Ghanaian who attended Oxford University and migrated to Alberta Canada. After spending 15 years in an unfulfilling job, he decided to move his family to Aster, a rural Canadian town founded by African Americans. Her second novel, Half-Blood Blues, is about a “Rhineland Bastard” who is a trumpet player for an interracial jazz band in Germany during World War II.
Despite having some difficulties getting The Second Life of Samuel Tyne published, Ms. Edugyan’s books have received international recognition; all three of her books have attained critical acclaim. In addition to finding itself in several “best books of the year” lists by numerous newspapers, Washington Black is one of the favorite books of former President Barack Obama and on the short list for the Mann Booker Award.
Edugyan’s parents migrated to Canada from Ghana. She now lives in Victoria, British Columbia with her husband and two children. We haven’t seen the end of her novels. She is currently under contract to write another book for which she will not reveal her topic. If she continues her trajectory, we can expect another in-depth global saga with amazing characters of African descent.
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Written June 2019. Updated February 25, 2021.