Chains - Laurie Halse Anderson

Chains
Laurie Halse Anderson
 
Released - Jan 2010

I realise the phrase never judge a book by its cover is pretty much the biggest cliché around but this is the first time I've ever looked at a book and thought "This can't be good" only to find being wrong has never felt so good.

The story is set in 1776 with two black slave girls, Isabel and Ruth, and their journey from quiet country life in Rhode Island to the madness of New York and the uncertain future ahead of them. I haven't read much of the American history so this could have been the reason that I found the book a really enjoyable read as it was an eye opener to someone who was quite naïve to the treatment of slaves during this time.

The trouble starts for the pair when their owner dies, leaving them property to a distant relative who wants nothing more than to sell them and the estate off as soon as possible for his own personal gain. It was here that the slave buying and selling really got to me as not once do the white characters have any intention of the well being for the sisters. Being taken from their home then shipped off to New York is just the start of their problems.

The majority of the tale is set in the home of the Locktons who buy the sisters in the want of more house help. The story is also set during the time when America was preparing for war with the imminent invasion of the British troops with loyalist families coming together to abolish the "Rebels" with hopes of a better life under British rule. Having this as the main drive of the story makes it more interesting as there is a lot of double dealing with both loyalists and rebels alike and this is where things really do start to get interesting. The eldest sister Isabel meets a young slave as they arrive in New York; he helps her to the water pump and lets her into a few secrets the main one being: if you help the rebels you'll be free. Now this is explained early on so don't worry, I'm not spoiling anything. From here we have Isabel leading what is essentially a double life, a slave during the day but spying on her Loyalist owners and passing on information to the rebels when she is sent on errands.

I would really like to say more of what the story entails but the best way to explain would be to find out for yourselves; there's no other way to say it without spoiling a very well paced and thought out novel. There are a lot of light hearted moments to be had and the fact that the story is told in a first person perspective makes it even more believable, the innocence of the main characters and the pure evil from their owners is second to none and if I'm being honest I could see this being televised sooner rather than later. The book isn't perfect and there are some sections that do feel they could be a little shorter with frantic moments cut to a few pages, this is a minor gripe though and doesn't detract from the overall experience.

Finlay Meldrum

Last modified: 29/10/2009 12:33:38