When I saw this book on NetGalley, I jumped on the occasion to read it. It was The Book of 2016, I had to read it! Well, it's good. It gave me goosebumps each time Cora had experienced an obstacle towards her freedom. I haven't read a lot of books on slavery. It brings a lot of feelings, knowing what all those people had to do to live...

I wish I could give this one a higher rating. Unfortunately I did not feel connected to the characters. The writing is excellent and the story is interesting.

The Underground Railroad has been on my radar for quite some time now. I’ve seen it in plenty of lists as one of the best books of 2016, so, naturally, I was ecstatic when I received an ARC for this one.

Cora is a slave in a cotton plantation in Georgia. After her mother’s escape, Cora is an outcast even among her people, considered a witch by many. When Caesar tells her about the underground railroad, Cora is convinced to escape with him. The pair flee to South Carolina, a place that first seems like heaven on earth. They soon find out that things are not exactly as they thought, especially since Ridgeway, a notorious slave catcher, is close on their heels. Life takes a few unexpected turns and Cora is once again forced to flee, going from state to state in a quest for her freedom.

I can’t even begin to explain how important this book is. Touching on a variety of extremely important themes, like white saviours and the importance of literature, as well as presenting a very authentic depiction of slavery, it has rightfully been described as one of the most important books of 2016.

Whitehead’s writing is probably a hit or miss. His narrative is a bit distant and impersonal, definitely not loaded with emotions as one may have expected. I think, however, that it’s exactly this style of narrative that made his book so captivating. It is obvious that he did a thorough research before writing this book; he is obviously a well-informed, educated and intelligent as hell individual. And these exact traits shine throughout his book. I think his cold narrative works really well for an era where black people were considered objects and property of their masters, not actual human beings, it works really well with the essence of his story.

I have to admit that, even though I didn’t care for most of the other characters, Cora definitely was a surprise for me. I admired her strength, her courage; this is a girl who knows how to survive. She was obviously the star of the story and even if I’ll probably soon forget the other characters, she is engraved in my memory forever.

I previously said that this book touches upon the importance of literature. I was actually referring to the importance of a literature that represents and mirrors its readers. Cora finds herself surrounded by books at some point in the story, and she devours every single one of them. Those that mostly grab her attention, however, are those about the history and struggles of her people. They are the ones that make her see herself in them, the ones that she finds relatable. For me, that small passage showcases the power representation in any form of literature can have on an individual and how important it is to be able to see yourself in books.

**An ARC was provided via Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.**

Cleverly crafted allegory about a runaway slave named Cora who uses an Underground Railroad to find her freedom. While fleeing from her slave catcher, she travels with Caesar another slave who awakens her senses to see a world beyond bondage…

“If you want to see what this nation is all about, I always say, you have to ride the rails. Look outside as you speed through, and you’ll find the true face of America.”

On her journey, Cora discovers the atrocities of mankind in America so unthinkable. But her dream of leading a more pedestrian life compels her will to continue. Cora’s character is very courageous and inspirational, especially her refusal to give up in the face of adversity. Although riddled with very horrific scenes of abuse and torture, Whitehead has choreographed an explosive narrative that explores racial consciousness in America and in a way that will leave you with a deeper understanding of the issues we face in present day.

Thank you Netgalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK

The foundations of the United States are built on slavery and this dark history informs its evolution right up to present day where the current political environment has legitimised racism. This book is set in the early 19th century and Whitehead has made the actual allegorical historical railroad into a physical one that Cora travels on, giving her and us insights into the nature of slavery and racism, seeing the differences in how it is implemented in the states it passes through and just how white American society systematically dehumanised slaves and black people from every conceivable angle. This is a brutal and harrowing read, that takes liberties with history for the purpose of illuminating a history that is important, relevant in today's US, particularly given the post-truth world where falsehoods are peddled as reality.

It begins in Georgia at the Randall Plantation, a place where black slaves experiences comprise of castration, sexual abuse, lynchings and more proliferate. After a particularly severe beating, Cora courageously decides to join Caesar in search of freedom through the legendary Railroad. Their escape results in Randall setting a slave catcher, Ridgeway, after them. Ridgeway is particularly invested in getting Cora because of his history with her mother. This fuels the fears and tensions in Cora in her efforts to evade him. As she travels through the different states Cora finds that her elusive hopes for freedom and independence are challenged as she becomes aware that the chains that bind are more firmly entrenched than might first appear. We have the practices of covert medical experimentation and sterilisation. At every level, physical, emotional, mental and spiritual, slaves and black people are a target. The bible is used to justify and bolster this rotten, amoral and cruel system.

In some ways, a first person account from Cora would have proved a more viscerally engaging experience for the reader. The characterisations in the novel are not its greatest strength, that lies in the black American history and experience compacted into Cora's train journey. For that, the author is to be applauded in its timely reminder of a history that is often swept under the carpet or questioned. This is a read that I highly recommend. Not an easy or comfortable read but a necessary one. Thanks to Little, Brown for an ARC.

My overall reaction to Colson Whitehead's The Underground Railroad is somewhat mixed. There were some aspects of the novel that I thought were truly incredible. I thought Cora's story was very compelling and that Whitehead's writing is so very powerful in the way it exposes so many of the horrors of slavery. I also loved the imaginative idea of the Underground Railroad as an actual physical railroad -- Cora's journey on the various stops was probably my favorite part of the novel. I thought Whitehead did a brilliant job of building even more suspense into what was already a suspenseful journey by not having the railroad travel directly north. Every time Cora was forced to get off the train, she never knew if she was moving closer to freedom or if she had been detoured to a safer destination, which in some cases, surprisingly enough, was even further south than where she began.

Even though I loved those aspects of the story, there was still just something about this book that made it a difficult one for me to get through. I'm thinking maybe it was something stylistic or maybe the change in point of view, but at times, I just wasn't as riveted by what was going on as I would have expected to be. I'm thinking in particular of the times when we switch to the point of view of someone involved in the running of the railroad. It felt like so much time was spent explaining the history of how they got involved with the railroad, and while it was interesting, at times it just felt like a distraction from the story that I really wanted, which was Cora's.

Even with the couple of issues that I had, I'd definitely still recommend The Underground Railroad.. It's both a powerful and emotionally moving read, as well as an innovative one.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehed.
I have heard so much about this book and I am glad I had the chance to read it. This is not an easy read - the horrors and some of the dialect is difficult. Whitehead's imaginative writing engages the reader and you are lost in a world of interesting characters and one scary ride.
This is a classic and one that we all should read.
RECOMMEND.

A twisty, heartbreaking tale of the harsh reality of slavery with a slighty original twist. Equal parts horrific and hopeful, following Cora became a bit of a breathless adventure through my own memories of the slave stories buried deep in the subconscious of my very early childhood. The older people of the south I grew up with retelling the stories of their parents and grandparents who came up in a South just after slavery. I felt a bit of kinship with Cora, wanting for her to make it to her elusive home.

A bit slow in spots, with spots a bit wordy for my tastes, I nevertheless loved most of this book. I was transported to the horror of my ancestors, the hope and the despair of the slave.

Shaping a work around the theme of slavery and its many tentacles is a bit like shaping a lump of rigid clay into something cohesive and stable. On one hand, excessive pressure on misery squashes the vein of the narrative and on another, a voice too rebellious, hollows out the inherent pain of its victims. Drawing that line which does justice to this divide is certainly not an easy task and that is precisely where Whitehead shines.

'The Underground Railroad' is an allegorical tale, spoken through the life and times of Cora. Her grandmother, Ajarry, from Western Africa, was a worker on the sprawling Randall plantation in Georgia, where, eventually, she passed on the tarnished legacy to her daughter, Mabel and granddaughter, Cora. Slave owners measure their success in the amount of tyranny they exert and Randall was not the one to walk against the league. However, 16-years old Cora was made of sterner stuff than most around her and harboured a burning desire, every instant, to break free. One fateful night, she manages to escape, with a compatriot, Caesar and makes her way to the underground railway station wherein a train promises her to scoop them away from the hell. And thus, begins her relationship with the unending maze of underground railroads that remains faithful to her survival till the last page of this book.

Whitehead draws a riveting picture of the slavery regime, with his nuanced characterization and feisty story-telling. The image of Cora is, all at once, an amalgamation of the bright and subdued; almost as if, she grows big and small in tune with her undulating escapes and captures. Even as she understands that she will remain perennially hunted, she is besieged with the dreams of a housewife. Whitehead takes extra care to keep Cora, a normal woman with not-so-normal scars.

"Cora always fell asleep following Martin’s visit, sometimes after an interval of sobbing and sometimes so quickly she was like a candle being blown out."

As the adult Cora begins a new life in South Carolina under a false name, Bessie, between her chains and freedom, stands her fate and the perilous slave-catcher, Ridgeway. Ridgeway is fascinating in his ambition. He pursues Cora like a trained police dog and licks his lips in malice at her capture from a Stationmaster’s house. He also takes an orphan under his refuge and grants him a decent life of an account keeper for him. His dualities make him a human and a pariah, in a strange, stinging way.

"She had never seen him rush or hurry. The man moved with exquisite calm, like a leaf drifting on the surface of a pond, making its own way on gentle currents."

Whitehead understands that secondary characters lift the statement being made by the protagonist to greater heights and thus, etches his’, with great tact. His terse descriptions of the slave camp in the conversations of its inhabitants are a subtle way of expressing their acceptance. From the apprehensions hanging thick in air in the houses of those who shelter Cora, to the womanly advice that comes in the dormitory Cora resides in as Bessie, just the right note of tension is released into the narrative to reflect the constantly alert mind of Cora. As the book says, “Whether in the fields or underground or in an attic room, America remained her warden.”

This is a hard-hitting tale of physical, social and psychological wounds that slavery inflicts and in a way, an appeal to stop the pursuit which has only taken a more refined and sophisticated garb in the current times. Otherwise, destination might turn an illusion soon and journey might assume, a very noxious connotation.

[Note: Thanks to Netgalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK for providing me an ARC.]