The Underground Railroad

Historically inaccurate to the point of being irresponsible. Idon't care that it's a novel. It presents as historical fiction (even though it is only fiction) and people who may not be familiar with the underground railroad and that time period in US history will believe the things the author has made up. For instance, in the book the underground railroad was an actual railroad built underground by slaves (it wasn't) and there was a road called the Freedom Trail that was lined for miles with bodies of slaves and other African Americans who had been hung (there wasn't, though that seems to be some sort of disgusting dig at the Freedom Trail in Boston).

I wish I could at least have enjoyed the writing style, yet I found it to be as lazy as his research. His fondness for using gratuitous violence in place of meaningful action does not shock but bores the reader. While one is desperate to connect with the characters, they come across as one dimensional and boring caricatures of those expected in a book about slavery in the US.

Since it won the Pulitzer and the National Book Award, I began this book expecting and hoping to at least find it interesting and decently written. I have read better books from self-published authors on Kindle that I got for free. I cannot recommend this to anyone.