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Front cover of Washing Black with orange monthly spotlight badger over a picture of an air balloon flying amongst mountains.

Book recommendations

Monthly Spotlight: Washington Black by Esi Edugyan

Shortlisted for the 2018 Booker Prize, Esi Edugyan’s novel relates the astonishing adventures of Washington Black, whose escape from the brutal cane plantations of Barbados was only the beginning

Washington Black was also shortlisted for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and the Carnegie Medal for Literary Excellence, among others – and won the Scotiabank Giller Prize. It was chosen by both the New York Times and Barack Obama as one of the best books of 2018. The epic Hulu/Disney TV series of Washington Black, starring Sterling K Brown and co-produced by Edugyan, is slated for release late 2024.

From reading guides and extracts to illuminating features, find out more about our April Monthly Spotlight here.

Published April 5, 2024

Read more about Washington Black

Portrait of Esi Edugyan.

Esi Edugyan interview: 'Washington Black came out of a strange confluence of interests'

The author of Washington Black talks to us about the tireless research she conducted for the novel, her passion for the classics – and why she’ll always return to The Catcher in the Rye

Front cover of Washing Black with orange monthly spotlight badger over a picture of an octopus.

Read an extract from Washington Black by Esi Edugyan

From the Caribbean to the frozen north, from London to Morocco, Washington Black is a story of self-invention and betrayal, of love and redemption, and of a world destroyed and made whole again

Front cover of Washing Black with orange monthly spotlight badger over a picture of crops.

Reading guide: Washington Black by Esi Edugyan

Shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2018, Washington Black is a story of friendship and betrayal, love and redemption

Front cover of Washing Black with orange monthly spotlight badger over a storm at sea scene.

Win a copy of Washington Black by Esi Edugyan and a Booker Prize tote bag

Win one of five bundles including a copy of our April Monthly Spotlight, Washington Black by Esi Edugyan, plus a limited-edition Booker Prize tote bag

Washington Black

Washington Black

By: Esi Edugyan
Published by: Serpent's Tail

Esi Edugyan relates the astonishing adventures of Washington Black, whose escape from the brutal cane plantations of Barbados was only the beginning.