This memorable audiobook takes a young slave from captivity to freedom as narrator Dion Graham wrings every heartfelt emotion from the story. Edugyan’s work embodies the fear and brutality of 1800s slavery, using beautifully turned phrases and clear-eyed observations—which Graham takes to another level—to give voice to the horror and high adventure of Washington Black’s life. Graham modulates the tension in his voice as a single fateful event causes Black and his mentor to leave the plantation and traverse the globe. Graham lets the characters mature in his delivery as Washington travels from the steamy sugar cane fields of Barbados to the arctic plains of Canada. Listeners will be rooting for this most unlikely of heroes. R.O. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award, 2018 Best Audiobook © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine
Bookmakers in the U.K. were betting on one of the three Pauls — Harding, Lynch and Murray — to win this year’s Booker Prize (though Paul Lynch was favored by many). In an interview with the Booker Prize team prior to tonight’s announcement, Lynch said, “Prophet Song is partly an attempt at radical empathy. I wanted […]