The Underground Railroad

Harrowing account of slaves in America trying to escape through the underground railroad.

I warn you. You need nerves of steel to read this Pulitzer Prize-winning book. Published in 2016 it's set in the antebellum American deep south and is about the life of black slaves at that time. The Underground Railroad of the title was a network of safe houses and people – Quakers and others – who risked everything, including their own lives, to help escaping slaves reach the north and Canada in safety. In Whitehead’s story the Underground Railroad becomes a real railroad, tracks through tunnels, engines, carriages, drivers etc. He uses this as a metaphor for the blackness at the heart of white America at the time.

The main character is Cora, a young slave girl, who lives a brutal and hellish life on a cotton plantation in Georgia. When she can’t stand the persecution by the other slaves, and the threat from the overseer and also the owner, she flees in the company of a young male slave, hotly pursued by the slave catcher, Ridgeway. At every stop of her journey Cora meets danger and terror, until eventually she manages to get onto a wagon train going west.

So much happens in this story that I can’t possibly describe even a fraction. Nor do I want to. Suffice to say, Whitehead has captured the fear and helplessness of black people in pre-Civil War America and paints a vivid and frightening picture. I’ve heard people describe this book as a fantasy, because it collects together, in a small space of time, events that were in reality spread over many years. I suppose, as a literary ploy, it may be called ‘fantasy’ but that doesn’t make any of the events described any less real. All of them mentioned are in the history books, clear as day.

I found it terrifying to read, but also gripping and unputdownable. It's a very good book - exciting and well written. It’s also very visual, clear images of all the events spring into our minds as we read. I’d like to give it full marks, but I can’t in good conscience. I found it too terrifying and upsetting, so 4+ Stars from me.
Review by: Freyja, Oundle Crime

Fiction, but the best type where you learn some facts too. It's about slaves and how they were treated and how they tried to escape and support each other. I liked the section where you think Cora has found a safe and supportive space, but the white community are still controlling - it's thought provoking and encourages empathy to the slaves. Also, it made me reflect on how the historical treatment affects us all now and how we recognise, celebrate and treat each other. The women are strong individuals. The injustice of the slave system and the reality of the suffering it invoked, is made real through the individual characters. A memorable read. Good for anyone interested in people - and historians studying slave trade / Amercian history.

This book is a non fiction book about The Underground Railroad. This was a 'real' system were anti-slavery white people helped enslaved black people move across borders and state lines within the United States of America to live a life of freedom. The white people where known as the underground railroad and their properties where known as stations. During the early 19th century, there were some states that allowed black people to live freely. This was dangerous for all parties involved as most of the country was pro-slavery.

Cora is a black girl born on a plantation and has only know a live of slavery. Her world consists of rigid rules, back breaking cotton picking and the consistent threat of being punished.

Cora's mother fled the plantation when she was around nine years old and so she feels compelled to find her and with her companion Caesar they make a plan to flee. Even though they know the risks of being caught and returned to their masters, Cora feels that she can not be contained any more by someone else.

The journey she takes is dangerous as she is constantly looking over her shoulder as the Master has informed that Slave Catcher of her escape and he is on her tail.

Instead of using people to describe the railroad, Colston had the literary vision to make the stations and trains real. He describes the stations is various states of luxury and the trains are all different sizes and designs. Cora's journey is an emotional one that will have you gripped from the beginning.

Can she get to freedom?

This is a story of discovery, resilience, suffering and above all love,

What can we say apart from Wow! What a book!

We are still buzzing from our last Wellbeing Reading Group virtual discussion. So much to say about this powerful novel we could have easily trebled our 30 minute slot. Thank you to everyone who joined us online or shared their thoughts in advance.

Admittedly it’s a tough read. The author doesn’t hold back in his depictions of cruelty and brutality which occur in each of the different locations of the book. We all found it harrowing and upsetting but were spurred on by the novel’s structure to follow the Cora’s story, some reading in hope for a happy ending. We see human nature at its absolute worst in the treatment of and between slaves, and in the control of those who had escaped enslavement and were supposedly “free”. There were a few rays of hope however in the kindness and considerable bravery of those who helped slaves to escape. A few of us found the pack mentality of the white community particularly upsetting and whilst appalled at their behaviour felt they were probably also fearful of the slave hunters or too afraid for their lives to make a stand.

We admired Cora’s resilience and ability to escape re-capture. We felt that she held some fascination for Ridgeway the slave hunter who had failed to find Cora’s mother, Mabel. We were happy to have Mabel’s story resolved but several of us felt the novel went a little off track (sorry!) towards the end as the story reached the utopia of Valentine’s farm.

Many of us felt the book gave us a greater understanding of the current racial and social turmoil in the USA and frustration that discrimination and oppression of racial groups has persisted throughout the world – the treatment of the Uighurs, Native Americans and First Nations People were just a few we drew comparisons with. We also discussed the invisibility of modern slavery in the UK and lack of opportunity for black people.

Enjoy is the wrong word to use for this bleak story but we certainly appreciated this cleverly crafted and paced novel which I’m sure none of us will ever forget. Definitely worthy of being awarded the Pulitizer Prize for Fiction in 2017.