Kidnapped from Africa as a child, Aminata Diallo is enslaved in South Carolina but escapes during the chaos of the Revolutionary War. In Manhattan she becomes a scribe for the British, recording the names of blacks who have served the King and earned their freedom in Nova Scotia. But the hardship and prejudice of the new colony prompt her to follow her heart back to Africa, then on to London, … where she bears witness to the injustices of slavery and its toll on her life and a whole people. It is a story that no listener, and no reader, will ever forget.Published in Canada as The Book of Negroes and the basis for the award-winning BET miniseries of the same name.
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If you are a history buff you should read this book. I read this book after visiting Hilton Head SC. It was recommended by a tour guide. It is written in the voice of one girl who is abducted from Africa and it follows he life from South Carolina to New York, Nova Scotia and back to Africa. It is not only her story but the story of every slave and …
This is my summer best read. Tragic but complete historic tale of how one woman/child is kidnapped and enslaved in her home land. Then thrown in a slave ship with 100s of others – in small compartment with no water or ability to stand or move. Laying in their own filth, many dying they are brought to America and sold. I could NOT put this book …
What a wonderful …if haunting… account of what humans are capable of doing to each other and how , for some, the human spirit can survive it all.
Everyone should be required to read this book.
This book is amazing, masterful, well-written, and original; I loved it. I only wish I could meet Aminata. Highly recommend.
I read this book several month ago. Since then, I have read dozens more. So, my recollection is thT this is a memorable book with well developed characters, had a realistic plot and kept me turning pages. All I. All, I would recommend this book, mainly because I remembered the plot and the characters after several months and many books later.
Wonderful fictional tale wrapped in historical events of the pre and post revolutionary slave trade throughout the US, Canada, England, and Africa.
This is an unbelievably powerful, beautiful book. It’s the kind of historical fiction that is visceral and close enough to touch, and that manages to tell a story of a time period you read a lot about in a way that felt fresh and undiscovered. It is clearly well-researched, and often it is not an easy read, but even in the moments when I had to …
This book left me speechless. I experienced the enroute gamut of emotions on this one. Sometimes, I even had to walk away to cry.
I could not put this book down. It is an eye opener on what people went through coming to America as slaves. It is a very good story of one woman’s life and her dreams.
Well worth the read
EXCELLENT BOOK.
This is a wonderful book that is very well written. The author was able to paint a descriptive, mental picture with his words that enveloped you into the story. The story was beautiful, painful, hopeful, and at times, heart-wrenching. In my opinion, the book did drag in a very small part, however, this would not stop me from recommending it nor …
There were some troublesome sections of the book where the plot went off the rails but still entertaining and readable
A very good book about how slaves survived.
Read it twice, such skillful writing you feel you are there in West Africa then experiencing life in the South. Later you travel to Liberia, and again it is as if you are there in the heat, living back in Africa. This is an amazing story of a young woman who rose far higher than she could have dreamed. I have kept this book, saving it to read …
I enjoyed the book. A look into how things were not so long ago
Thought povoking
Horrible. So slow.
Perhaps one of the most informative books I’ve read. Follows a young African girl sold into slavery, brought to the States, finds her way to Canada and back to Africa. Slavery was a world wide economic business – this story will open your mind to the personal tragedy and determination to maintain identity through horrific situations.
This book is about slavery, yet began in mid 1700’s and told the story of the girl before being abducted.
I enjoyed this, in addition there are references to the Jewish population in the south. And something I knew nothing about is the British offering blacks a new life in Nova Scotia! I love historical fiction and this is a great read.