Some writers put their words on paper simply to entertain us. Nothing wrong with that. Who can't use some entertaining reading from time to time? Others write simply to fill a need deep within themselves, and if their works find a readership of more than a dozen, so much the better for all of us.
But a writer who can turn a story into a lesson, and a lesson into a work of art, and that work of art into a masterpiece, is a rare writer indeed.
Lawrence Hill is such a writer.
THE BOOK OF NEGROES is that rarest of all gems: a book that combines a riveting story with unforgettable characters and a stirring lesson in history most everyone, especially Canadians, should certainly add to their book shelves.
In fact, this reviewer found THE BOOK OF NEGROES to be, without a doubt, a flawless piece of literary art.
The story centres on the life of a West African girl, and follows her from her home village to her life as a slave in North Carolina and on to time spent in Nova Scotia, and finally to her days as a symbol of the anti-slavery movement. (see map)
Here, she speaks from London, England, in 1804, as her days near their end. "I am no longer worked to the bone, nor do I stuggle every hour to fill my belly or cover my head, and I find it easy to make one new discovery every day. Recently, I discovered that something happens when people realize they may never see you again. They expect wisdom from you. And they want you near them during great moments."
THE BOOK OF NEGROES abounds with characters both good and bad and, sadly enough, some who are merely indifferent to all things they see and do.
Author Lawrence Hill lives in Ontario, and is the brother of Canadian singer/songwriter Dan Hill, of "Sometimes When We Touch" fame. THE BOOK OF NEGROES was the winner of the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best Book, winner of the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize, and a winner of The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's annual "Canada Reads" event.
The book is a " must read" for all smug Canadians who think the brutal nastiness of slavery never soiled our pure shores, and for readers everywhere who appreciate a book that is at once bold, enticing and uplifting.
First published in 2007 by HarperCollins, THE BOOK OF NEGROES by Lawrence Hill is still readily available at most brick-and-mortar bookstores and also on line. Definitely look for it.
Lawrence Hill's novel is published as Someone Knows My Name in the USA, Australia and New Zealand and appears in Canada as The Book of Negroes.
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