The Underground Railroad

This nation shouldn't exist, if there is any justice in the world, for its foundations are murder, theft, and cruelty. Yet here we are.”

I thought this was gruesome, brilliant but gruesome. Treating humans like animals, humanity at its basest most disgusting form, and yet alongside all that hate there is kindness and hope for a better future for everyone. This is Cora's story; she escapes the plantation and begins her journey on the Underground Railroad towards what she believes will be freedom, however, each stop reveals a new nightmare, a different kind of hell, all the time being down by a posse of slave catchers.

I knew a little bit about the story before I read the book so I knew the Underground Railroad was a not a real railroad but a metaphorical term for a series of escape routes and safe houses that were used by escapees, helped along the way by people who disagreed with slavery laws often at great risk to themselves. I guess a bit like the escape lines that escaped prisoners used in WW2.

This is an unpleasant read but an essential one.