Washington Black is a novel by Esi Edugyan. The novel follows George Washington “Wash” Black, who was born a slave in 1818 on a plantation in Barbados owned by an English family. Wash is befriended by Christopher “Titch” Wilde, a member of the English family that owns the plantation. Titch helps Wash to escape from the plantation. During Wash’s following international travels, he must struggle with the many hardships presented to him as a black man in the world at large. The novel explores themes of racial oppression, love, family, identity, and compassion.
