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Content snapshot
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Violence
Very heavy
Extreme violence including the brutal conditions of the Middle Passage, the physical brutality of slavery, rape, and murder; the violence is historically authentic and unflinching
Language
Some
Moderate language; period-appropriate throughout
Sexual Content
Some
Sexual violence including rape is part of the historical record the novel depicts; not gratuitous but clearly portrayed
Substance Use
Barely any
None
Emotional Intensity
Very heavy
The sustained psychological horror of enslavement across a lifetime; the grief of a people and a person; the resilience required to survive the unsurvivable
What this book is about
Aminata Diallo is kidnapped from her West African village at age eleven, transported across the Atlantic in the horrific conditions of the Middle Passage, and sold into slavery in South Carolina. Lawrence Hill's acclaimed Canadian novel—published as Someone Knows My Name in the US—follows Aminata across decades and continents, from slavery to freedom to London, where she tells her story to British abolitionists.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
Extreme violence and sexual violence depicting the reality of slavery
Among the most important and harrowing novels about the slave trade
Adults only; deeply affecting
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