Journey Back to Freedom: The Olaudah Equiano Story - Catherine Johnson

Author: Catherine Johnson

Genre: Children's fiction, True-life Narrative

Rating: 3 stars.

A true-life account of a Nigerian boy who was kidnapped, enslaved, and later bought back his own freedom in the 18th century.

Olaudah Equiano was born in 1745 in Essaka, in what is today a part of Nigeria. When he was eleven, he, along with his sister, was kidnapped by slave traders and taken to the Caribbean. He was sold multiple times as a slave, once to a British Royal Navy officer. This experience impact his life the most. Equiano turned out to be very enterprising, and with his small savings and gains from local trade, he purchased his freedom and settled in London. He later became part of the Sons of Africa, an abolitionist group composed of Africans living in Britain. The story is written in the first person perspective of Equiano, and bases many facts on the information in his memoir.

The story begins with a very brief look into Equiano’s early years and covers his journey through the Caribbean and England. There is an afterword that speaks in detail of the man and his time in England after earning his freedom. This section proved more insightful than the main story.

I love historical fiction as well as true life narratives. I also love children’s fiction. So when these two come together in one package, I am usually very impressed. This time though, I find myself disappointed. The story just didn’t touch me the way I expected it to.

Equiano’s life is no doubt inspiring. He doesn’t lose his presence of mind even under the most disturbing circumstances. He is a quick learner, and enterprising too. His despondency comes through as clearly as his optimistic faith in a better future. The book thus offers an interesting character study.

Equiano’s narrative ought to have rendered the reader emotional at least to some extent. However, the writing style makes the story very bland. Despite the first person narrative, we never feel connected to the lead character. Sometimes, it feels like we are just reading facts as he moves from one place to another, whether as a slave or as a free man. There is no character detailing. For instance, how does he understand every English speaker around him when he was a newly-minted slave? Why does he talk so much of his white owners/well-wishers but hardly anything of his family? What did he feel when the Brits taught him beliefs from Christianity? How did he accept such a different faith so easily? Why did he willingly get baptised? There are many such instances when the insight into the actions is almost non-existent, left at a surface-level mention.

Even more disheartening to me was the afterword that showed Equiano to be a tricky person. Though he himself was enslaved, he later doesn’t shy away from managing other slaves to ensure his own freedom and security. As I wasn’t aware of Olaudah Equiano, I expected his story to be similar to that of Solomon Northup in terms of intensity, though the circumstances of the two men and their slavery were vastly different. But when the “hero” proved to be a cocky opportunist, I lost any interest in seeking a happy ending for him.

All in all, it does seem like an important story from the darker days of history. I just wish it had made me feel a bit more empathetic towards Equiano, allowing a glimpse of the person behind the facts.

My thanks to Barrington Stoke and NetGalley for the DRC of “Journey Back to Freedom: The Olaudah Equiano Story”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

Note: There are a few disturbing events in the content. There is mention of a female slave being muzzled; one person gets shot during a battle and the bullet goes right through his cheek; several references are made to slaves being tortured; and of course, we have Equiano’s forced kidnapping at a young age. The book is officially meant for ages 9+, but some of these facts might be too traumatising for sensitive young readers.