Any Known Blood

I loved this book and couldn't tell you why. I can only say that Lawrence Hill does not disappoint with his writing style. He has a way of drawing you in and making you feel as though you really know the characters intimately! I am looking forward to him writing a new book. I just wish that he would hurry!!

3.5 stars

Langston Cane the Fifth - part-white from his mother's side, and part-black from his father's - has just been fired from his job, and is recently divorced. He doesn't quite know what to do with himself, so he heads to Baltimore from Oakville, Ontario. Generations of his family have been moving between the cities (and countries) since his great-great-grandfather escaped slavery in the mid-1800s. Langston decides he'd like to learn more about his family's history.

It was good. Lawrence Hill mentions at the end that the novel is loosely based on his own family's history. With so many male characters named Langston Crane, at times, thinking back over the story, I got a little mixed up as to which one a certain event happened to. Part of that was probably also because the story was not chronological. Family history was revealed as Langston the 5th discovered things and wrote about them, which would be more realistic, anyway.

This was a good story, a little choppy and hard to follow at points due to five characters with the same name. A good read none the less, I will read more by Hill for sure.

great read- we used this for our book club

Although this book kept my attention, it seemed to drag in a lot of places. And after reading it, I think I will take a rest from stories of slaves for a while. It could have been a true story and was well written; could have been any man, and it is amazing how Lawrence Hill can speak in the voice of a slave, though he is generations away from being one, thank goodness. Still, it was not as exciting and page-turning as his first, but still good. My mistake, I think was I became enamoured with The Book of Negroes, and couldn't wait to get into this one. But reading two similar books, one after the other, becomes a bit tedious. I will read his next one about Mahatma Grafton at some point, as he is featured in "Blood" as well, and it would be nice to learn his story as well...for now, I will read something quick reading...er...maybe War and Peace lol!

I loved this book