Blonde Roots

A searing exploration of the transatlantic slave trade from the Booker Prize-winning author of Girl, Woman, OtherImagine if the transatlantic slave trade was reversed.Imagine Africans the masters and Europeans their slaves . . .Now meet young Doris, living in a sleepy English cottage. One day she is kidnapped and put aboard a slave ship bound for the New World. On a strange tropical island, Doris is told she is an ugly, stupid savage. Her only purpose in life is to please her mistress. Then, as personal assistant to Bwana, Chief Kaga Konata Katamba I, she sees the horrors of the sugarcane fields. Slaves are worked to death under the blazing sun. But though she lives in chains, Doris dreams of escape - of returning home to England and those she loves . . .

Winner of Orange Youth Panel Prize 2009

“'A hugely imaginative tale that invites important debates, challenging fundamental perceptions of race, culture and history' Independent on Sunday'This brilliant novel will fulfil [Evaristo's] purpose of making readers view the transatlantic slave trade with fresh eyes' The Times'Reimagines past and present with refreshing humour and intelligence . . . human and real' Guardian”

A hugely imaginative tale that invites important debates, challenging fundamental perceptions of race, culture and history Independent on Sunday
This brilliant novel will fulfil [Evaristo's] purpose of making readers view the transatlantic slave trade with fresh eyes The Times
A phenomenal book. It is so ingenious and so novel. Think The Handmaid's Tale meets Noughts and Crosses with a bit of Jonathan Swift and Lewis Carroll thrown in. This should be thought of as a feminist classic. Women's Prize for Fiction Podcast
Reimagines past and present with refreshing humour and intelligence . . . human and real Guardian
[Blonde Roots] is a powerful gesture of fearless thematic ownership by one of the UK's most unusual and challenging writers Independent
As with a Swiftean satire, Evaristo's novel is powerful not for its fantastical elements but for its ability to bring home the horror of historical events Financial Times

Bernardine Evaristo, MBE, is the award-winning author of eight books of fiction and verse fiction that explore aspects of the African diaspora. Her novel Girl, Woman, Other made her the first black woman to win the Booker Prize in 2019, as well winning the Fiction Book of the Year Award at the British Book Awards in 2020, where she also won Author of the Year, and the Indie Book Award. She also became the first woman of colour and black British writer to reach No.1 in the UK paperback fiction chart in 2020. Her writing spans reviews, essays, drama and radio, and she has edited and guest-edited national publications, including The Sunday Time's Style magazine. Her other awards and honours include an MBE in 2009. Bernardine is Professor of Creative Writing at Brunel University, London, and President of the Royal Society of Literature. She lives in London with her husband.

'Astonishing, brilliant . . . takes one of the great horrors of history and turns it on its head. Almost Swiftian in its imaginative leaps, in which humour and suffering are effortlessly intermingled' The Times Imagine if the transatlantic slave trade was reversed. Imagine Africans the masters and Europeans their slaves . . . Now meet young Doris, living in a sleepy English cottage. One day she is kidnapped and put aboard a slave ship bound for the New World. On a strange tropical island, Doris is told she is an ugly, stupid savage. Her only purpose in life is to please her mistress. Then, as personal assistant to Bwana, Chief Kaga Konata Katamba I, she sees the horrors of the sugarcane fields. Slaves are worked to death under the blazing sun. But though she lives in chains, Doris dreams of escape of returning home to England and those she loves . . . 'A bold and brilliant game of counterfactual history. Evaristo keep[s] her wit and anger at a spicy simmer throughout' Daily Telegraph 'So human and real. Re-imagines past and present with refreshing humour and intelligence' Guardian 'A brilliant satire whose flashes of comedy make the underlying tragedy all the more poignant' Scotland on Sunday

This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.