BY HENRY SACKS

Rarely do you find a book that brings an enjoyable plot alongside not only useful but insightful knowledge, however after reading this book I can say that it certainly is possible.

The book follows the true story of brothers from the island of Martinique who venture back to their homeland of Grenada to steal their previous comrades. Their master, father Cleophas (a priest I believe – or at least a man of religion), sends them on this mission and lures them under the impression it is entirely legal and negotiated prior to their departure. This however, turns out to be false and leads the brothers down a dangerous and captivating path to smuggle these slaves. The cruel undertone that is so rightfully displayed fully entraps the reader within the tale of Emile and Lucien (the brothers).

The book explores messages or racism, discrimination and contrastingly partnership and comradery. The ownership of people as slaves is a topic covered in my American history course and therefore I had base knowledge on the American slave trade, however knowledge does not give personality nor does it give emotion whereas this book helped my emotional understanding regarding the slave trade particularly in the west indies. The period of history regards the mid to late 1700’s and the story is said to take place in 1765, shortly after the English invasion of their home island Grenada (hence their mission). This book follows these boys not only through their journey but as mentioned previously their racial discrimination as slaves. They soon realise that their purpose is not to be reunited with childhood friends but for profit of their new masters in Martinque who plan on expanding their sugar industry. They discover that “sugar is money” and “that’s all they are to them”, and this encaptivates the audience to join their emotional journey alongside them. To avoid spoiling the read I will leave the emotional tale for individuals to discover, however it is not one to be taken lightly as with all things surrounding the topic of slavery.

This books does not, however, come without its downsides. For me, the drama was exaggerated regarding the long chapters simply describing the fields as I prefer a more fast paced but regulated book and whilst the description was vivid and perfectly set the scene it was elongated a little. The only other obvious downside is the insensitivity of the slave owners however I do not see this as a downside due to its necessity for historical context but mentioned it more as a warning to those who find topics such as this hard to read due to the clear brutal and horrific nature of the slave trade and humans being considered property not people.

Historical fiction as a category is always fascinating and engaging to say the least, but I cannot be more complementary than to say this book not only succeeded in its aim of education but in its encaptivating plot. Not to mention the book is based on a true story. Overall this book was enlightening and certainly worth the read regardless of your curiosity surrounding the topic despite its minor downsides and I would certainly recommend this book to most if not all readers.