The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing
by M.T. Anderson
Set in pre-Revolutionary Boston, Octavian lives with his mother in pampered luxury. The reader slowly realizes that they are black and are part of an experiment to see if Africans have the same mental capacity as Caucasians. The Southern plantation owners who fund this research use it for their own ill-gotten gains; Octavian learns of his own chilling role. The novel is written from Octavian's point of view and in letters written by a soldier who befriends him. The issues of slavery and human rights, racism, free will, the causes of war, and one person's struggle to define himself are all examined in this book. Moderately difficult but worth the challenge.
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