What is your first name? Urvi
What class are you in? D1
What is the title of the book? The book of Negroes
Who is the author? Lawrence Hill
What is this book about? The book is about a young girl, Aminata Diallo who is kidnapped at the age of eleven from her village Bayo, in west Africa and is sold into the slave market. She has a horrific journey of several months at sea. She marries a young boy of her age but is then separated by her owner. The book talks about her struggles as a slave and how she later learns to read and write from a fellow slave. Aminata somehow manages to escape from her owner during the American Revolutionary War and goes back to her village. She eventually leaves the village and goes to Birchtown England and works for a black community.
Has this book influenced you in anyway? The book gave me a perspective of the difficulties, hardship and inhumanity black people faced in the 17th century.
Aminata’s determination to move forward and, learning about how she faced life with her head held high, helps me put trivial matters and arguments into perspective.
Aminata’s determination to move forward and, learning about how she faced life with her head held high, helps me put trivial matters and arguments into perspective.
Who would you recommend this book to? To people who are more into historical nonfiction and above the age of fifteen.
Why should they read this book? Our generation is quite lucky. We have such luxuries in our life and have not been exposed to slavery nor the slave market and the cruel acts that they faced. This book really opens one’s eyes to all the hardship faced by black people and has been well written.
How did you learn about this book? My Mom
Any other comments or interesting facts about the book? The book is based on historical documents of some names kept by the British naval officers. It documents 3000 blacks who served in that war. It is also published with a different title - Someone knows my name.
