September Book Club: Washington Black

On Wednesday, Sept. 16, ten of us enthusiastically discussed “Washington Black” by Esi Edugyan. We agreed that the author is a gifted storyteller with great descriptive powers who has created memorable characters and interesting relationships. We had a few cavils: Some felt that Wash’s development was choppily portrayed; there were some disagreements about the ending; we granted artistic license to some elements of magical realism but not so much a couple of convenient coincidences. Nonetheless, we all enjoyed the book.

On October 21 we will be discussing “The Moment of Lift” by Melinda Gates. It’s available at Kepler’s, which is now open, but books can also be ordered online at keplers.com. Remember that we get a discount. You can also order at bookshop.org, which supports local, independent bookstores.