Esi Edugyan - Washington Black

International bestseller

Giller Prize, 2018
Man Booker Prize 2018 (nomination)
Roger's Writers Trust Award 2018 (nomination)

New York Times - ten best books of the year, 2018
Washington Post Best Books of the Year 2018
Time - the best books of the year, 2018
Financial Times - best books of the year, 2018

The slaves of the English Wilde brothers suffer from the horrendous tyranny of their masters on the sugarcane plantation in Barbados. Washington Black is an eleven-year-old boy who works as a slave in the fields. Pani is filled with fear that one of the brothers chose him as his apprentice. But Washington should not fear. Christopher Wilde is an eccentric figure: nature diver, explorer, inventor and determined fighter for the abolition of slavery. He is obsessed with building a flying machine.

Through his master, Washington enters the realm of miracles, where the night ocean lights up from jellyfish, where anyone can cross the sky with the help of a simple canvas umbrella, where even a little boy born on a chain can find the meaning of life and human dignity.

One fateful night, someone is killed, and the future fate of Washington depends on the mercy of its owners. Christopher Wilde must choose between the honor of his relatives and the life of Washington. The boy has to flee, a blood price is set on his head. He must answer the question alone: ​​who he really is - in a world that denies his mere existence.

Esi Edugyan lives in Victoria, British Columbia with her husband and two children. This is his first novel published in Hungarian, which has been translated into fourteen languages.