I felt this would have really benefited from better editing. I couldn't tear myself away from parts of it, but didn't have the same interest throughout. Would have been stronger if the focus was on fewer generations perhaps. By the end I found I didn't really care that much about the story of the first Langston Cane.

Der Autor stellt 5 Generationen einer schwarzen Familie vor. Langston Cane V, Sohn eines schwarzen Vaters und einer weißen Mutter, macht sich, nachdem er seinen Job verloren hat, auf die Suche nach der Familiengeschichte. Vier weitere Langston Canes schildert er - beginnend bei seinem Vater, einem prominenten Arzt und endend bei seinem Ur-Ur-Großvater, der aus der Sklaverei entflohen und über die Underground Railroad nach Kanada gelangt war.
Das Buch ist ausgesprochen unterhaltsam und gut lesbar, behandelt dabei ein sehr wichtiges und interessantes Kapitel kanadisch-US-amerikanischer Geschichte.

The author presents five generations of a black family. Langston Cane V, son of a black father and a white mother looses his job to look and strats to look into family history. He describes four more Langston Canes - beginning with his father, a prominent doctor and ending with his great-great-grandfather, who escaped from slavery and came to Canada with help of the Underground Railroad.
The book is very entertaining and readable. It treats a very important and interesting chapter of Canadian-American history. ( )

Too obviously didactic--telling us stories which we should hear. Perhaps we should, but I don't like reading a novel and feeling that the author has sat me in a school desk. I found the prose predictable and the humour corny.
Where was the elegant writer who gave us the powerhouse novel, The Book of Negroes? Was he told to dumb down his work for a wider audience?
Most disappointed. ( )

Once again I have enjoyed this Lawrence Hill novel. He takes his own family history and extends it into a wonderful novel that traces the history of a man as he tries to come to turns with himself and his own life. The writing is easy to read. The characters are worth getting to know. He doesn't make them all perfect, but their faults make them more endearing. I will definitely be looking for more of his books. ( )

I always find books about African-Americans very interesting. Did not know the history of John Brown and Harpers Ferry. The whole kidnapping episode was unnecessary. Would have liked enjoyed Mill's story rather than some stories. Generally a well written and enjoyable story.