Description
Eleven-year-old George Washington Black – or Wash – a field slave on a Barbados sugar plantation, is initially terrified when he is chosen as the manservant of his master’s brother. To his surprise, however, the eccentric Christopher Wilde turns out to be a naturalist, explorer, inventor, and abolitionist. Soon Wash is initiated into a world where a flying machine can carry a man across the sky, where even a boy born in chains may embrace a life of dignity and meaning, and where two people, separated by an impossible divide, can begin to see each other as human.
But when a man is killed and a bounty is placed on Wash’s head, they must abandon everything and flee together. Over the course of their travels, what brings Wash and Christopher together will tear them apart, propelling Wash ever farther across the globe in search of his true self.
SHORTLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2018
WINNER OF THE GILLER PRIZE
SHORTLISTED FOR THE INTERNATIONAL DUBLIN LITERARY AWARD 2020
FINALIST FOR THE CARNEGIE MEDAL AND THE ROGERS WRITERS TRUST FICTION PRIZE
LONGLISTED FOR THE WALTER SCOTT PRIZE 2019
New York Times Top Ten Book of the Year 2018
Sunday Times Paperback of the Year 2019
‘A masterpiece’ – Attica Locke’Strong,
‘Beautiful and beguiling’ – Observer’
‘Destined to become a future classic … that rare book that should appeal to every kind of reader’ – Guardian
