The Underground Railroad is a poignant representation of the horrors of slavery and the antebellum era in the U.S. I found Colson Whitehead’s writing style a bit difficult to get into at first, but about halfway through the novel my interest was piqued and I became more engaged in the story.

I also really enjoyed the fictional elements, such as the choice to create a physical underground railroad, but realized that I do not have a deep enough understanding of this time in history to discern which other elements may have been invented or were based on actual events. All the same, most of the horrors of this time period that Whitehead chose to include are indeed rooted in reality, and I felt that the fictional elements of this tale didn’t distract from those striking depictions.

Overall I would recommend adding this to your list if you like historical fiction, want to know more about this specific time period, or the experiences of enslaved individuals and the sacrifices made on the journey to freedom.