4.5/5
12 reviews
The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill Reviews
#873 in Books

Description

This beautiful full-colour gift edition of the new Canadian classic, The Book of Negroes, shares with readers the many photos, works of art and documents that inspired Lawrence Hill to create his award-winning work. It adds to the novel more than 150 images: early maps and documents, archival photos, period paintings and neverbefore-published pages from the original handwritten ledger from which the novel draws its name. Readers will travel with Aminata Diallo from a West African village to an indigo plantation in South Carolina, through the tough streets of New York City and the harsh climate of Nova Scotia to the coast of Sierra Leone, and finally to an abolitionist's home in London. A holiday gift to treasure, this keepsake edition is essential for any booklover's collection.

    Reviews and Ratings

    100% OF CHICKS DIG IT

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    4.7/5
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    Recommended? You Betcha!
    June 01, 2017
    Quebec, Canada

    This is an amazing book. I have read it more than once, definitely a must read. The story pulls you right in and you feel like you are right there experiencing everything with the characters. Highly recommend to all the book lovers out there!

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    5.0/5
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    Recommended? You Betcha!
    April 14, 2016

    This book is so beautifully written. I love that Lawrence Hill was able to write from a woman's perspective and through his words, I felt everything that Aminata had endured. What an emotional roller-coaster! This book is a MUST-read.

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    5.0/5
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    Recommended? You Betcha!
    March 04, 2016

    I never knew this book existed until I started seeing the newly released book with the television show cover coming up across my Facebook news feed. At the very same time my daughter was reading Underground to Canada in her grade 7 Language class and she had heard about the television show and book. She came home from school and said she wanted the book. (she is an extremely advanced and avid reader). I ordered the book from amazon and added it to my goodreads to read shelf. I Noticed it had an exceptional rating.

    Now as far as ratings go you might love a book that I turn out to dislike, or I might love a book that you may dislike. So I try not to choose a book based solely on its rating. But I have several friends and family members who read this book and said it was well worth the read.

    It was very well written. First I should say that this book is a work of fiction, but even though the detail in this book does an excellent job of detailing what life was like as a slave. It is about slavery but even more then that it is about one woman’s journey from being snatched in Africa, to her journey into slavery, through slavery, and beyond.

    The story begins in a time where she is an older lady and wants to write her own autobiography. She wants to write it herself because she wants it to be accurate. Lawrence Hill does an exceptional job bringing her story to life with vivid details through Aminata’s eyes.

    Aminata Diallo was snatched in West Africa as an 11 year old child and forced to walk for months to sea where she would then board a ship and cross over to become a slave in South Carolina.

    Aminata proves to be an exceptionally talented person even from the young age of 11 she was already ‘catching babies’. As the story progresses she becomes more and more literate and more determined to fight for not only her freedom, but the freedom of all slaves.

    I won’t go into any more details, don’t want to spoil anything for anyone who has not read this book yet.

    This was one of the best books I have read in a long time and more than deserved the 5 star rating I gave it on Goodreads.

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    4.2/5
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    Recommended? You Betcha!
    September 06, 2015

    Great novel, well written. A deep read that you simply cannot put down unless to ponder the realities of this historic yet dark period in world history.

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    4.0/5
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    Recommended? You Betcha!
    June 13, 2014

    This book is amazing. It spans the globe and is such a rich story. I could not put it down. As a Canadian its a must read. Lawrence Hill is a great writing.

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    4.0/5
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    Recommended? You Betcha!
    July 13, 2013

    This is not, by any means, a "light" read. It took me a while to get through it because of the content--it was very heart-breaking. However, I think that this is a "must-read" that should be at the top of everyone's reading lists. Amazing, powerful and thought-evoking book.

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    3.8/5
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    Recommended? You Betcha!
    June 19, 2013

    I appreciate the book's richness in background information on the slave trade. It's important to know this sad part of history.

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    4.8/5
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    Recommended? You Betcha!
    October 07, 2012

    Learned so many things I had no clue of rgegarding slavery . It was amazing how peeople stuggled to survive. Inspiring read !!

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    4.8/5
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    Recommended? You Betcha!
    August 30, 2012

    I read this book about 5-6 years ago and still on my favourites list! I love learning about Canadian history and this book was a real eye-opener. The Hill family is quite talented, some people may not know that his brother is Dan Hill.

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    3.7/5
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    Recommended? You Betcha!
    May 23, 2012

    This was a hard book to swallow. But it is an amazing story of courage, strength, and most of all - going after what you desire most despite all the setbacks, roadblocks, and any possible challenge someone could put in front of you. I wouldn't say its easy to get through some of the scenes (some are explicit and terrifying), but it is extremely hard to put down. I loved this book and would definitely recommend it.

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