#54: Blonde Roots

Blonde Roots by Bernardine Evaristo is an alternative history that imagines what would have happened if Africans had enslaved Europeans instead of the other way around. It tells the story of Doris, the daughter of English farmers, who is captured by a slave trader and sent overseas. She ends up at the plantation of a wealthy landowner, but desires freedom, so much of the story concerns her attempts to escape and what happens because of these plots.

I found the premise to be interesting, but the story was hard for me to finish. The plot seemed to move slowly at first, and I put the book down for a while before eventually finishing it. Still, there were some interesting facets, especially the reimagining of American culture if it had been based upon African traditions rather than European ones. Overall, I found the book to be intriguing, but not a must read.