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Bloodlines
Ranging from the Civil War to the present, this poetic historical novel in verse form chronicles the lives and fortunes of five characters--Tom and Stella, runaway slaves turned operatives for the Underground Railroad; Faith, a black slave; Christy, her white lover; and their son (the narrator). By the award-winning author of The Longest Memory. Reprint.
160 pages, Paperback
First published August 17, 2000
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About the author
Fred D'Aguiar
32 books53 followersPoet, novelist and playwright Fred D'Aguiar was born in London in 1960 to Guyanese parents. He lived in Guyana until he was 12, returning to England in 1972.
He trained as a psychiatric nurse before reading African and Caribbean Studies at the University of Kent, Canterbury, graduating in 1985. His first collection of poetry, Mama Dot (1985), was published to much acclaim and established his reputation as one of the finest British poets of his generation. Along with Airy Hall (1989), it won the Guyana Poetry Prize in 1989 and was followed by British Subjects (1993). His first novel, The Longest Memory (1994), tells the story of Whitechapel, a slave on an eighteenth-century Virginia plantation and won both the David Higham Prize for Fiction and the Whitbread First Novel Award. It was adapted for television and televised by Channel 4 in the UK. His long poem 'Sweet Thames' was broadcast as part of the BBC 'Worlds on Film' series in 1992, winning the Commission for Racial Equality Race in the Media Award.
Fred D'Aguiar was Judith E. Wilson Fellow at Cambridge University (1989-90), Visiting Writer at Amherst College, Amherst, MA (1992-4), and was Assistant Professor of English at Bates College, Lewiston, ME (1994-5). More recently he was Professor of English and Creative Writing at the University of Miami.
His plays include High Life, which was first produced at the Albany Empire in London in 1987, and A Jamaican Airman Foresees His Death, performed at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in 1991.
He is also the author of the novels Dear Future (1996), set on a fictional Caribbean island, and Feeding the Ghosts (1997), inspired by a visit D'Aguiar made to the Merseyside Maritime Museum in Liverpool and based on the true story of a slave who survived being thrown overboard with 132 other men, women and children from a slave ship in the Atlantic.
Recent poetry includes Bill of Rights (1998), a long narrative poem about the Jonestown massacre in Guyana in 1979, and a new long narrative poem, Bloodlines, the story of a black slave and her white lover, published in 2000.
Fred D'Aguiar's fourth novel, Bethany Bettany (2003), is centred on a five-year-old Guyanese girl, Bethany, whose suffering symbolises that of a nation seeking to make itself whole again.
He trained as a psychiatric nurse before reading African and Caribbean Studies at the University of Kent, Canterbury, graduating in 1985. His first collection of poetry, Mama Dot (1985), was published to much acclaim and established his reputation as one of the finest British poets of his generation. Along with Airy Hall (1989), it won the Guyana Poetry Prize in 1989 and was followed by British Subjects (1993). His first novel, The Longest Memory (1994), tells the story of Whitechapel, a slave on an eighteenth-century Virginia plantation and won both the David Higham Prize for Fiction and the Whitbread First Novel Award. It was adapted for television and televised by Channel 4 in the UK. His long poem 'Sweet Thames' was broadcast as part of the BBC 'Worlds on Film' series in 1992, winning the Commission for Racial Equality Race in the Media Award.
Fred D'Aguiar was Judith E. Wilson Fellow at Cambridge University (1989-90), Visiting Writer at Amherst College, Amherst, MA (1992-4), and was Assistant Professor of English at Bates College, Lewiston, ME (1994-5). More recently he was Professor of English and Creative Writing at the University of Miami.
His plays include High Life, which was first produced at the Albany Empire in London in 1987, and A Jamaican Airman Foresees His Death, performed at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in 1991.
He is also the author of the novels Dear Future (1996), set on a fictional Caribbean island, and Feeding the Ghosts (1997), inspired by a visit D'Aguiar made to the Merseyside Maritime Museum in Liverpool and based on the true story of a slave who survived being thrown overboard with 132 other men, women and children from a slave ship in the Atlantic.
Recent poetry includes Bill of Rights (1998), a long narrative poem about the Jonestown massacre in Guyana in 1979, and a new long narrative poem, Bloodlines, the story of a black slave and her white lover, published in 2000.
Fred D'Aguiar's fourth novel, Bethany Bettany (2003), is centred on a five-year-old Guyanese girl, Bethany, whose suffering symbolises that of a nation seeking to make itself whole again.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 15, 2021
“Picture those two if you can, arm in arm,
master and slave, somewhere in the middle south, A white man and a black woman ; alarm
bells sounding everywhere on their route.
Two products of 2 slave-owning farms miraculously finding their way out together.
Picture them while you can at their most intimate, most triumphant”.
- ( the specific prose of Christy and faith were being chased out when their relationship was uncovered by Christy’s father : Bloodlines by Fred D’Aguiar
.
.
I was not ready for this. My heart broke for Christy and Faith. They deserved happy ending but they did not get it. They knew they were not supposed to fall in love with each other but their heart wants whats it wants. Separated by the difference of status, skin colour and class, they find themselves in each other arms. Once the relationship were found out by Christy’s father - he asked him to leave the house and took faith with him. Gone are the status as the slave owner, Christy and Faith made their way to find the land that colour blind. Fate was not on their side as they were caught by the Slavers, Faith was being gang raped over and over again while being pregnant at time. Christy tried to fight but he was outnumbered by those slavers and was beaten to death. They both then were sold separately to another slave owners. Faith was now Mr Mason’s property and Christy was forced to fight every day as part of gambling scheme. Most of his opponents is a black slave which they begged Christy to defeat them because if they win, they will be lynched to death. Faith, on the other hand, was being treated kindly by her master’s wife has decided to beg her to save her baby if there is a complication while giving birth. Fate was sealed and the baby grew up without his mother. Mrs Mason raised the baby, give his father’s name to him and he carried Mason Last name. Mr Mason was not fond of it but his hand are tied as the boy was considered unusual breed as he is not white or black but carry the brown on him. Even Christy mason could not fathom his brownness. Overall, this is hear wrenching book. It was not for the faint hearted readers. It was brutal, violent and laid assault to one’s humanity. It depicted the dark past of slavery, the cost of civil war and the ugliness side of white supremacy. Even though the story is penned in a poetry form, the flow is nicely fitting and the prose is beautifully written. I am glad i bought the book from secondhand bookstore the moment i laid my eyes on it.
master and slave, somewhere in the middle south, A white man and a black woman ; alarm
bells sounding everywhere on their route.
Two products of 2 slave-owning farms miraculously finding their way out together.
Picture them while you can at their most intimate, most triumphant”.
- ( the specific prose of Christy and faith were being chased out when their relationship was uncovered by Christy’s father : Bloodlines by Fred D’Aguiar
.
.
I was not ready for this. My heart broke for Christy and Faith. They deserved happy ending but they did not get it. They knew they were not supposed to fall in love with each other but their heart wants whats it wants. Separated by the difference of status, skin colour and class, they find themselves in each other arms. Once the relationship were found out by Christy’s father - he asked him to leave the house and took faith with him. Gone are the status as the slave owner, Christy and Faith made their way to find the land that colour blind. Fate was not on their side as they were caught by the Slavers, Faith was being gang raped over and over again while being pregnant at time. Christy tried to fight but he was outnumbered by those slavers and was beaten to death. They both then were sold separately to another slave owners. Faith was now Mr Mason’s property and Christy was forced to fight every day as part of gambling scheme. Most of his opponents is a black slave which they begged Christy to defeat them because if they win, they will be lynched to death. Faith, on the other hand, was being treated kindly by her master’s wife has decided to beg her to save her baby if there is a complication while giving birth. Fate was sealed and the baby grew up without his mother. Mrs Mason raised the baby, give his father’s name to him and he carried Mason Last name. Mr Mason was not fond of it but his hand are tied as the boy was considered unusual breed as he is not white or black but carry the brown on him. Even Christy mason could not fathom his brownness. Overall, this is hear wrenching book. It was not for the faint hearted readers. It was brutal, violent and laid assault to one’s humanity. It depicted the dark past of slavery, the cost of civil war and the ugliness side of white supremacy. Even though the story is penned in a poetry form, the flow is nicely fitting and the prose is beautifully written. I am glad i bought the book from secondhand bookstore the moment i laid my eyes on it.
December 26, 2021
Bloodlines is a novel that takes a poetry shape, written in 2000 by Fred D'eguire a British Guyanese novelist.
About the book:
Somewhere in south America, Faith is a black slave woman who falls in love with her master's son after being raped by him. They run away in search for a better life and then she gives birth to "the narrator" who will start his trip in search for his identity. In bloodlines we'll see inheritance of slavery, hardships from mother to her child.
I really recommend it for those who want to change their usually readings and try poetry.
About the book:
Somewhere in south America, Faith is a black slave woman who falls in love with her master's son after being raped by him. They run away in search for a better life and then she gives birth to "the narrator" who will start his trip in search for his identity. In bloodlines we'll see inheritance of slavery, hardships from mother to her child.
I really recommend it for those who want to change their usually readings and try poetry.
December 18, 2007
Lyrical and moving, this is the best novel in verse I have ever read.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews