by Colson Whitehead
An extremely powerful novel that weaves together historical facts with magical realism and fiction. Superbly written and deftly structured, it is essentially the story of one female slave named Cora and her journey from slavery to freedom. The author took an imaginative approach to the Underground Railroad and the things that were going on in America at different points in history and that certainly made this even more interesting. It was often difficult to read because of the violence, evil and fear that lived in so many of the characters. There was hope, but I didn’t find it as hopeful as some other historical fiction novels that I have read about slavery in the last year or two. But it was there, lurking under the surface… perhaps Underground. Thankfully Hope made its way to the surface eventually at times. But it had to fight hard to reach that light. But in some ways, maybe that’s exactly the point the author was making.
