Middle Passage by Charles Johnson
'"I'm not on anybody's side! I'm just trying to keep us alive! I don't know who's right or wrong on this ship anymore, and I don't much care! All I want is to go home."'
This is Rutherford Calhoun's story. Creditors are looking for him. He's a thief and the woman he's courting has a fantastic scheme prepared in order to marry him. Leaving the heat behind him, Rutherford Calhoun takes off from New Orleans aboard a ship named The Republic. Unfortunately, is problems are just beginning definitely not ending.
What happens on board ship is horrendous and incredible. This ship is a slaver going through the Middle Passage. The Republic captures slaves who are from the Allmuseri tribe. Like sardines the Allmuseri are packed down in the ship. To describe the way the bodies are packed the author, Dr. Charles Johnson, uses the word "contorted" in different ways. Ngonyama, Baleka, and her mother are some of the catured we become familiar with during this ghost ride.
Above board there are Capt. Falcon, Cringle, Rutherford Calhoun and other strong ole salters. Charles Johnson writes a powerful story. For me, I had one problem. I never felt close to Rutherford Calhoun. I just couldn't connect to him in an intimate way. This disappointed me. Perhaps, I missed the boat somewere. Rutherford Calhoun is a shadow of a man even before he truly becomes a shadow of a man. Although Rutherford Calhoun is a freed black man, there had to be a way for the author to make him not seem like another white man aboard ship.
Otherwise, the book is a wonderful adventure story. The journey became so real I longed for rescue like Calhoun and the other men. Charles Johnson really made me feel like one of the crew of the ship. Like with any adventure there is a romance. In not many pages Charles Johnson proved his ability to be a tough minded writer and an author with a heart for romance, sweet romance.
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