The first pages of this novel gripped me. I haven’t read any of Whitehead’s work before and the first chapter showed me why he is so revered. He writes beautifully, masterfully. The Underground Railroad tackles a topic that is past but present in minds today as the struggle for black rights and equality continues. Just because slavery has ended doesn’t mean blacks are free in today’s America. There is still so much work to be done and we have so far to go before equality really will exist. The magical realism of Whitehead’s novel brought all of the actions of a nation, both past and present to the front of my mind, as it will for any reader. It’s a haunting and deeply painful book to read. I found it a very rewarding journey.
Cora is a slave on a plantation in Georgia. Life is hard there, for all the slaves, but Cora’s life is harder. Seen as an outcast from her fellows she leads a lonely and painful life that will only become more painful as she enters womanhood. Caesar, a recent arrival on the plantation from Virginia seeks her out and begs her to leave with him, to follow the Underground Railroad to freedom in the north. Cora is hesitant, her mother ran and was never seen again, one of the only potential successful runaways in the plantations history. Still, Cora hesitates, despising her mother’s action as an act of selfishness. Eventually she runs. They both do. And what follows is a journey of hope and unspeakable pain in turn. Freedom is hard won in the south. And sometimes freedom isn’t what one expects it to be.
This book builds hope and then breaks your heart again and again. It’s beautifully told. Whitehead writes like no one I’ve read before. In the beginning I felt an extremely strong connection to the characters. Whitehead writes Cora and Caesar well so that instead of demanding empathy they simply deserve it. As the novel progressed I felt like the characters, Cora particularly, lost a bit of depth in lieu of the plot and for me this brought my review down from 5 to 4 stars. That being said the story is still one that deserves the attention it has won. A worthwhile read for fans of historical fiction and alternative historical fiction. The advent of the railroad as an actual railroad added a strangely surreal note to the story that I loved. I have been told by a few people that The Intuisionist is also a great book and have added it to my TBR!
Rainy Day Reader 