The Novel Files: Lawrence Hill

Last night I finished reading The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill, and it was absolutely fabulous! The man – who is Canadian, by the way – definitely deserved all of the hype and media attention he received after the novel was published. I especially love his attention to detail and the very obvious amount of research he conducted before writing. It is novels like this one that really make me want to continue trying to become a writer.

The novel is written in first person, and a woman named Aminata (“Meena”) Diallo is telling us her life story. She is African, and survived the slave trade. Meena was stolen from her village of Bayo, and transported to North Carolina. From there she lived in New York, Nova Scotia, “Freetown” in Africa, and finally, London. She was a very different slave, because she could read, write, and speak exceptionally well. It was these gifts that saved her life repeatedly. Parts of the novel are difficult to read, especially when Meena is on the slave ship heading to North America. It’s very difficult to read about people being thrown overboard, being branded, and being chained together, but it’s very important for people to understand how horrific the slave trade really was. Everyone should know what people suffered through in the past. Hill did a marvellous job of explaining the situation, and he did so in an honest and up front manner.

I don’t want to give away too much of the novel, but I will say that it is a marvellous story of love and survival. Meena exhibits amazing strength, and illustrates that the most important thing to do when faced with a horrible situation is to keep living. Pick up this book today, experience it, and pass it on to someone else. I think everyone should read it. It’s that good.