The Underground Railroad - Colson Whitehead

I've been wanting to read this novel for a long time now, and I finally got round to it. The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2017, and was also long-listed for the Man Booker. The novel follows protagonist Cora, a slave living on a cotton plantation in Georgia, who is approached by fellow slave Caesar who proposes that they make their escape. Due to her isolation and ridicule amongst the slave population, not to mention the cruelty of her oppressors, she naturally accepts the offer. The novel is told in the third-person and follows a few characters, including hesitant slave sympathizer Ethel, slave-catcher Ridgeway, and Cora's mother Mabel. Whitehead's railroad encompasses an extensive system of underground tracks, stations and operators, all which run underneath the southern land.

When Caesar arrives at the plantation and describes the underground railroad to Cora, it is not long before they flee in pursuit of a nearby station. On the way they encounter trouble and narrowly evade capture, but not before Cora has accidentally killed a young white boy - and once this news gets out, they are being hunted. They reach the railroad and begin their arduous journey to what they believe is the freedom of South Carolina. They live here peacefully for a while and all seems idyllic, but they soon realise that the facade hides a much darker reality, so it is not long before they move on. The novel introduces us to different worlds throughout Cora's journey, and each time they arrive somewhere new, you think that they have escaped their old lives and are free from their chains. But they cannot seem to shake the bonds of oppression and inferiority. Not only this, but Ridgeway is now in pursuit of Cora, and this time he is determined to capture her and make up for the escape of Mabel - and he's hot on their heels. It's a real nail-biter!

The novel is mostly fast-paced, though it has passages of a stop-start nature which I tried to get through quickly and back into the thick of the chase. I was on the edge of my seat for most of the story and there are some particularly harrowing scenes, which was to be expected. The abject cruelty and misfortune we witness in this novel is really dejecting, and I found myself thinking, god I wish something would go right for once! But despite my desire for a happy ending, this was the reality of many lives, and Whitehead does an excellent job of tying in elements of political history during the pre-Civil War era. I felt pretty raw at the end of the novel but thoroughly enjoyed the inventive and thrilling story, and would highly recommend you read it too!