"What is the truth of any life [...]? I doubt even the man who lives it can say. [...] You cannot know the true nature of another's suffering." (p415)

Coming at the very end of the book as it does this seemingly profound pronouncement would appear to be the message Edugyan wants her readers to take away. This is however hardly an original thought and another 419 pages are an unnecessary addition to an already long corpus of works making that very point, probably much better.

As a work shortlisted for the Booker Price, one would expect Washington Black to be much meatier than it is. The first half reads like a straight-forward, very conventional YA adventure book. All the elements are there, told in a simple linear narrative, all nicely tied together and full of "amazing" and lucky coincidences. The second half is sadly but a slow petering out of the book's momentum, right to the anti-climactic final breath of wind.

The writing, both beautiful and imbued of clear simplicity, is what redeems a book that doesn't know what it is, as if the narrative is pulling in one direction while the author is pushing in another. The eponymous character is interesting and so is the rest of the protagonists but in the end I didn't get to care for them.

On the whole it is an enjoyable read, sometimes gripping, but mostly it is rather a let down. The material could have lent itself to something much more rewarding than the present offering. I could easily see this as a successful TV mini-series though.