UNDERGROUND AIRLINES

by Ben H. Winters

The stories and tall tales of the underground railroad which helped thousands of enslaved people escape to the northern United States and Canada continue to fascinate and inspire artists today.  Ben H. Winters has taken the concept and imagined what would have happened if Lincoln had been assassinated before becoming President and Congress had reached an agreement which included several southern states maintaining their rights to own human beings.

Victor works for the US Marshall Service tracking down runaways so they can be returned to their owners. His reasons for being in this line of work unfold over the course of the novel, but from the beginning it is clear the work disgusts and tortures him. As he tracks down one particular young man in Indianapolis, the chain of command begins to seem off, and his investigations into the underground airlines get personal.

This suspenseful novel had me reading late into the night and I found it both compelling and horrifying. My only hesitation in recommending Underground Airlines is that for a book with so much focus on the psychology of being enslaved and escaping bondage, I was surprised to discover afterwards that the writer is white which made me wonder about appropriation of experience. Winters has written an excellent and imaginative story, however, and I recommend it with that caveat. (Lily)