Title: The Underground Railroad
Author: Colson Whitehead
Context: The Underground Railroad (2016) is a historical fiction novel set in the United States during the 1800s. It is a kinetic adventure story about a rapacious woman and her will to get away from the horrors of slavery.
Synopsis: It is a story about a slave named Cora in Georgia who works on a cotton plantation. For all the slaves, life is indeed hell but for Cora, life is especially much worse. Her fellow Africans were outcast her. She faces greater upheaval when she comes into womanhood. One of recently arrived slave is Caesar, from Virginia. She speaks to Cora about the existence of an Underground Railroad and they make plans to take up this dreadful risk in the effort of escaping from the cotton plantations. However, as planned, things do not go as per their plans. A white young boy is killed by Cora while he tries to capture her. Both Cora and Caesar are able to identify a station and move towards the north. However the hunt for both of them goes on.
Ceasar and Cora make their first stop at South California which seems like haven in the first instance. However the placid surface of the city masks a crafty scheme which was chalked out for its black denizens. Matters are worse as the slave catcher, named Ridgeway is unceasingly chasing them and is close on their heels. Cora and Caesar have no choice but to escape again. A distressing flight is undertaken by Cora, state by state looking for freedom in its truest sense.
Other works by the Author:
Fiction
1999 – The Intuitionist
2001 – Apex Hides the Hurt
2009 – Sag Harbor
2011 – Zone One
2019 – The Nickel Boys
Non-fiction
2003 – The Colossus of New York
2014 – The Noble Hustle: Poker, Beef Jerky & Death
Essays
2001 – Lost and Found
2012 – A Psychotronic Childhood
2012 – Hard Times in the Uncanny Valley
2013 – Occasional Dispatches from the Republic of Anhedonia
Short Stories
2004 – Down in Front
2019 – The Match