In the Upper Countryby Kai ThomasRating: 3 stars (out of 5)
Genre: historical fiction
Review: One doesn't really enjoy a book like this, dark as it is, but one can say that it's incredibly evocative. Thomas brings to life the free black people in Canada, and their constant fear of slave catchers coming across the border. The story centers around Lensinda, a young black journalist tasked with collecting their stories, and Cash, an escaped slave who kills one of the bounty hunters sent to recapture her.
Cash won't reveal her full story unless Lensinda swaps stories of her own. As the two share stories of slave life and free life, with some mythology mixed in, Lensinda slowly learns that perhaps the answer to why Cash chose to kill the bounty hunter (and it was a choice) isn't the most important thing about Cash's life. Both tales jump around in time, and can be somewhat hard to follow as there are few textual clues to mark the shifts in time, making this a challenging book to read on an already challenging subject. For those with the foritude to track the story, though, it's a worthwhile addition to genre.
FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for this review.
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