Mini Reviews of Recent Reads: Washington Black by Esi Edugyan and Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter

When two English brothers take the helm of a Barbados sugar plantation, Washington Black – an eleven-year-old field slave – finds himself selected as personal servant to one of them. The eccentric Christopher ‘Titch’ Wilde is a naturalist, explorer, scientist, inventor and abolitionist, whose single-minded pursuit of the perfect aerial machine mystifies all around him.
Titch’s idealistic plans are soon shattered and Washington finds himself in mortal danger. They escape together, but then Titch disappears and Washington must make his way alone, following the promise of freedom further than he ever dreamed possible.
Inspired by a true story, Washington Black is an extraordinary tale of a world destroyed and made whole again.

Washington Black was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2018 and while I didn’t read it at the time, it was a title that intrigued me.  I picked up a copy earlier this year at a charity book sale, and I’m so glad I did.  While I’m not sure that “enjoyed” is the right term for a novel so focussed upon slavery and its impact, it’s a brilliant and thought-provoking read with wonderfully complex characters.

Wash, as the main protagonist is known, is immediately a sympathetic character.  Born into slavery, the reader is immediately thrown in at the deep end of what this entails, and it seems all the more shocking for being viewed through the eyes of a young child. His life improves when he is selected to be the personal assistant to the plantation owner’s brother, Titch.  Titch provides him with a basic education, teaching him to read and write so that Wash is better able to assist with his experiments, and discovers in him a latent artistic talent which he encourages.  Despite the marked improvement in his circumstances, it takes a long time for Wash to trust Titch fully – his life before that point and the things he’s witnessed on the plantation mean that he is unable to trust Titch despite the early indications that Titch is a better man than most.  He lives in a state of fear of all the things that may happen, only gradually learning to relax, and I felt that this was portrayed realistically and poignantly.

Titch is also a complex and well-portrayed character.  It’s easy for the reader to see that he’s a relatively kind and caring individual who does his best to look after Wash, even requesting that he is released from slavery, a request that is refused.  Whilst he is an abolitionist, it’s clear that Titch has very little knowledge of the day-to-day experiences of what it is to be slave.  His naivety is stunning yet realistically portrayed, and he does at least seem willing to open his eyes to the truth rather than simply ignoring or glossing over it.  And when it becomes apparent that Wash is in danger – through no fault of his own – Titch helps him to escape, despite the impact that this will have on his own life.     

The journey that these two undertake following that escape is somewhat fantastical, and yet it’s so exciting and fraught with danger (enhanced by a bounty placed upon Wash’s head by Titch’s brother) that I was happy to go along with their adventures as they travel north through America and into Canada, seeking out Titch’s father in Nova Scotia, and beyond.  Those they encounter on their journey highlight the differing views held at the time, with many treating Wash as inferior and subservient, only reigning in their tongues (and fists) due to Titch’s presence.  They also encounter more sympathetic individuals who either seek to help escaped slaves, or who are at least willing to treat them as the humans that they are. 

Washington Black is a fascinating novel that uses slavery to explore the nature of freedom and the importance of being able to choose one’s own future, and it’s novel that I’d recommend to those who enjoy historical fiction with a hint of magical realism.

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A missing girl.
A family torn apart.
An unsolved mystery.
Until now.

Twenty years ago, Claire and Lydia older sister, Julia, vanished without a trace. Her disappearance had a devastating effect on their family.
Now another teenage girl is missing, and the circumstances of her disappearance are hauntingly similar to Julia’s.
It’s up to Lydia and Claire to revisit their past, unearthing the secrets that destroyed their family all those years ago.
But will they be able to face what they find along the way?

Pretty Girls is a novel recommended to me by the lovely Eva at Novel Deelights (do go give her a follow if you don’t already, you won’t regret it!) when it came to light that I’ve never read anything by the author.  Not wanting to start a new series, Eva recommended Pretty Girls as a good stand-alone option to introduce me to the author’s work.  I’m so glad she did – this is a dark novel that I enjoyed getting lost in. 

The novel begins with Claire and her husband, Paul, who are mugged one evening, with Paul losing his life after being stabbed during that attack.  It’s an event that is absolutely devastating to Claire, but things are set to get worse as she becomes unintentionally caught up in the disappearance of a young woman – an event that mirrors the disappearance of her own sister some twenty years earlier.  As it becomes increasingly difficult to know who to trust, she reaches out to her estranged sister, Lydia, to get some answers and to hopefully lay some demons to rest. 

Claire and Lydia are both interesting characters, albeit for different reasons.  The disappearance of their sister Julia had a devastating impact on their family, with both reacting differently to that event and its aftermath.  Lydia sought out the release provided through drugs, spiralling out of control until she later became clean and started a family of her own.  Estranged from the rest of the family for reasons that are gradually revealed, Lydia struck me as a realistic character, and one who’s doing their best to raise a teenage daughter and to keep on top of all the complexities that life throws our way.  I had more mixed feelings about Claire who seemed to withdraw into herself after Julia’s disappearance. I felt sympathetic towards her because she has recently lost her husband, and yet I disliked her for the way in which she and Lydia become estranged.  She is a determined individual, however, and throws herself into investigating the disappearance of the missing girl with gusto despite the potential consequences. 

Pretty Girls is a novel that I got swept away in as I wanted to understand what had caused the rift between Claire and Lydia as well as getting to the bottom of what was happening to the missing women.  This isn’t a police procedural, and Claire and Lydia must investigate as well as they can with the limited resources available to them and even as it becomes apparent that some people would prefer it if they didn’t get involved.  I did find that there were some elements to the plot that were a little predictable and some that stretched what’s plausible, but this didn’t detract from my enjoyment at all – I still wanted to know how it would end and whether these two sisters could get the answers they need and bring those behind the disappearances to some form of justice. 

Pretty Girls is a novel that explores the darkest aspects of what some people are capable of.  It doesn’t shy away from the gruesome detail, although this isn’t gratuitous and does serve to move the plot along rather than being present purely for shock value.  This novel won’t be to everyone’s taste as a result, but it’s one that I recommend if you’re comfortable with some gory content in your thrillers.