The Underground Railroad: Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction 2017

Endorsed by both Barack Obama and selected for Oprah's Book Club, "The Underground Railroad" by Colson Whitehead is a celebrated work, having received the National Book Award in 2016 and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2017. This gripping novel follows Cora, a young woman enslaved on a cotton plantation in Georgia. Life is brutally harsh for all the slaves, but Cora, ostracized even among her own, faces additional hardship as she steps into womanhood, where even greater suffering seems inevitable.When Caesar, a new arrival from Virginia, reveals the secret of the Underground Railroad, Cora seizes the chance to flee north with him. In Whitehead’s compelling reimagining, this network for escape is not just metaphorical but an actual railroad, complete with a shabby boxcar pulled through subterranean tracks by a steam engine, rescuing fugitives whenever possible. Their first destination is South Carolina, a city that initially appears hospitable. However, beneath its tranquil facade lies a sinister plot against its unsuspecting Black residents. Adding to the peril, a tenacious slave catcher named Ridgeway is hot on Cora's trail.Constantly on the move, Cora's quest for genuine freedom leads her through diverse landscapes, each revealing a distinct chapter of America's dark past. Whitehead masterfully captures the varied, horrifying realities faced by Black people prior to the Civil War, intertwining Cora's personal odyssey with the broader saga of America’s history. "The Underground Railroad" is both a tale of one woman's fierce determination to break free from the chains of slavery and a profound reflection on the historical journey of a nation.