Chasing the North Star

by Robert Morgan

In his latest historical novel, bestselling author Robert Morgan brings to full and vivid life the story of Jonah Williams, who, in 1850, on his eighteenth birthday, flees the South Carolina plantation on which he was born a slave. He takes with him only a few stolen coins, a knife, and the clothes on his back--no shoes, no map, no clear idea of where to head, except north, following a star that he prays will be his guide.

Hiding during the day and running through the night, Jonah must elude the men sent to capture him and the bounty hunters out to claim the reward on his head. There is one person, however, who, once on his trail, never lets him fully out of Angel, herself a slave, yet with a remarkably free spirit.

In Jonah, she sees her own way to freedom, and so sets out to follow him.

Bristling with breathtaking adventure, Chasing the North Star is deftly grounded in historical fact yet always gripping and poignant as the story follows Jonah and Angel through the close calls and narrow escapes of a fearsome world. It is a celebration of the power of the human spirit to persevere in the face of great adversity. And it is Robert Morgan at his considerable best.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Book Club, Southern, Historical, African American, Adult

308 pages, Hardcover

First published April 5, 2016

About the author

Robert Morgan is an American poet, short story writer, and novelist.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Reviews

[Angela M · Rating 4 out of 5]

"He was called Jonah because he was born during a terrible storm and his mama said soon as she let go of him and put him ashore in this world of folly and time the thunder quieted and the wind laid. Trees had broken off their stumps and skipped across fields like dust brooms, and the Saluda River spread wide over the bottomlands. Some of the slave cabins behind Mr. Williams's brick house got smashed to splinters by the high tempest."

I was so taken in by writing in this first paragraph and this would have been 5 stars for me if I had found more passages like this. Having said that, the story is gripping and real, and reflects the shameful time in our history when slavery was acceptable. This is not just the story of one runaway slave, but it becomes the story of two , when Angel finds Jonah and decides to hitch her wagon to his star so to speak . (Couldn't help myself.) There are lighter moments of the push and pull as Jonas' and Angel's relationship grows, but there is nothing light about the whippings , the sexual abuse or the overall depiction of the horrendous history of slavery in this country or the conditions these two faced as they trudged their way out of South Carolina. I loved that their journey north took them to the Finger Lakes Region where I live .

This is the first book I've read by Robert Morgan and hope to read more . Definitely recommended.

Thanks to Algonquin Books and Edelweiss for the opportunity to read this ARC.

[Diane S ☔ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Escaping from the South Carolina plantation of his master, Jonah leaves his mother and siblings, making off with only a knife, the clothes on his back and the few coins his mother kept in a jar. His destination, North to Canada and freedom.

Along the way he has some scary encounters, slave catchers, places that offer him work but he than finds as much imprisonment with these establishments as he did on the plantation. He is a little different, he can read, in fact he loves the written word and it his reading that led to his escape plan. Slaves on the road were prey and Jonah has very many close encounters and then he meets Angel. She is a slave too, tired of being her masters bedwarmer and her meeting Jonah leads to her following him North to freedom. Jonah is somewhat naïve I think, often finding himself one step away from disaster and Angel sees it as her mission to make sure he makes it to where he wants to go.

Angel and Jonah are very complimentary characters, what one lacks the other has and frankly Angel livens this story up immeasurably. She is a wonder, though at first Jonah doesn't see this, he just sees her as another obstacle and manages to loose her four times. But she is a persistent gal and she keeps coming, nothing deters Angel. These are both wonderful characters and along the way we meet others like the goat man, and a preacher and his wife that are a welcome goodness.

Another wonderful historical using a lighter tone to alleviate the seriousness of what could happen to a runaway slave. I really enjoyed this, the characters definitely made this story and if the ending was a little to tidy, well I enjoyed that too.

ARC from Netgalley.

[TL *Humaning the Best She Can* · Rating 5 out of 5]

"How strange that he was Jonah and not someone else, strange that he'd been born who he was and where he was. He could just as easily have been born in another time and place. He could have been born white and free. He could have been born a Cherokee Indian or a chief in Africa. He could have been born rich and in the North. Instead he'd been born Jonah Williams, a slave on the Williams place "

"We like to think we can make big choices,that we choose what we do. We like to tell ourselves that. The truth is, we usually do what we have to, what there is to do. We don't really know what we're going to do ahead of time. It just happens, like me running away because I saw Jonah at the jubilee. It was the biggest thing I'd ever done, and it wasn't even a plan, but just a happen. "

"The road was his refuge, if there was any refuge, until he got to Canada. The road was a kind of story he was reading, or telling,step by step and minute by minute, long as a novel.
When he got to the end of the story, he would be in chains, or dead, or free in Canada. "

First saw this in the goodreads giveaway, it intrigued me right away... I had a feeling this book was something special (I was right!) I didn't win the giveaway but put it on my wishlist anyway and soon as I had the funds, I pounced :).

Mr. Morgan did an amazing job putting us in the heads of Jonah and later Angel, two slaves running away to get North and freedom. They have some bad luck but remarkably good luck as well, they meet both nice and not-so nice people on the way... each stop along the way serving its own purpose. Even being scared, they push on to try to get to a better way of life.. that little flame of hope never going out despite their doubts.

I was impressed how Angel and Jonah kept finding their way back to each other even when they were separated... was it in God's plan, was it Angel's stubbornness, determination, and her faith in Jonah? I like to think it was both :)

The horrors of slavery are mentioned but it doesn't go too deep into them (neither are they ignored). I wanted to smack and kick some of the people they met *glares* I was amazed how strong they both were through everything, I'm not sure if I would have been the same.

The atmosphere was rich as you follow them on their path, it felt like I was walking along them,,, sharing in everything they did and everywhere they ended up.

One of the strongest moments between Angel and Jonah was when they were in the boxcar. Seeing it through both sets of eyes brought a smile to my face, despite the circumstances that brought them there.

So proud of them both!

This was one of those that was very compelling in a quiet way:)

The ending of the book was beautiful and a perfect way to leave things, even though I am already missing these two like crazy.
(Imagine the stories they would/will pass on to their descendants)

[Dorie - Cats&Books :) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Though I have read many books about the Underground Railroad and runaway slaves who have tried to find freedom, this book is something special.

I think Mr. Morgan’s great skill as a storyteller is his ability to enable the reader to fully visualize the characters in all of their actions and thoughts.

The main character in this story is Jonah, an 18 year old slave in 1850 who decides to run from the plantation where he was born when he is whipped severely for a crime he didn’t commit. He has been taught to read by his mistress and this helps him greatly in his flight for freedom. He leaves with only a few coins, a knife and the clothes on his back. He knows only that he needs to keep traveling north to escape capture. There are many close calls and adventures along the way.

The character of Angel is a young black woman who is being kept on a plantation as a kitchen helper but also a sex slave for her master. When she has endured years and years of this she decides to flee North. She comes upon Jonah and decides that she has a better chance of finding her way to freedom if she latches on to Jonah whom she perceives to be intelligent, able to care for himself and, very importantly, knows how to read and has studied maps. Though Jonah continues to abandon her she never gives up her decision that Jonah is the man for her and through many perils she continues to find him and together they journey to freedom. Though Angel is uneducated she has a keen understanding of people and is very clever in devising ways to remain “invisible”.

I thoroughly enjoyed this historical novel and all of the elements of surprise, twists and turns on the way to freedom. Mr. Morgan’s description of the countryside and the people that Jonah and Angel encounter are thoroughly original and there are many other characters in the book that will stay with me for a long time. My only small disappointment was that things are wrapped up quite quickly in the end and I guess I was so involved in these characters that I wanted more!

I was provided with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Nada · Rating 2 out of 5]

Chasing the North Star by Robert Morgan is the story of two runaway slaves trying to make their way to the north. The story is one of slaves but not really one of slavery. Please note that the book does have graphic descriptions of violence and “adult” encounters. However, the book seems to lack the intensity and the emotional impact that a story such as this could have.

Please read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2016...

Reviewed for the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program.

[Whitney · Rating 1 out of 5]

It read as if the author took what he imagined a modern day middle class black boy and a hood girl, with inclinations toward prostitution, and dropped them into a less intense version of slavery-where the only person who was an immediate enough threat that needed to be killed was someone who was also a victim of the system.

[Jane · Rating 1 out of 5]

Maybe I have read too many books on this subject but again this was so slow paced , plod plod yawn yawn .....

I read the beginning and the end , oh no ! Something I never do ever the characters were un interesting

[Kristen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh, if this hadn't been an audio book that I listened to on my commute, I probably would have quit. I just didn't find either of the primary characters that likable or interesting. And the writing made me wonder if this was a YA book until we got to some of the more *ahem* adult scenes. Every meal was the best meal Jonah had ever eaten and, yes, when you're on the run and food is scarce I can see that food would be great, but it got tiresome. And Angel was fat. Really fat. And she shakes her breasts and her butt at people. Enough already.

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this, but there just wasn't much going on. Reading about a runaway walking through the woods for page after page after page just got old. Didn't finish.

[Dorine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rated 3.5 - CHASING THE NORTH STAR by Robert Morgan is an early American historical survival adventure novel about two slaves who journey north toward freedom.

For more reviews, plus travel, garden and food topics with photos, visit The Zest Quest , my pursuit of a zestful life.

Jonah was born a slave in the foothills of South Carolina, north of Greenville. His owner’s wife, Mrs. Williams, chose Jonah to serve her family in the main house. Since Jonah serves the Williams’ children, he learns by observation when they’re tutored. When Mrs. Williams catches Jonah with a book from their library, she bargains for her silence by requesting that he read to her from the Bible daily. Next, he begins to read the newspapers Mrs. Williams sends home with him for his mama to use for kindling.

Jonah hides books in the barn loft to sneak up to read when Mrs. Williams is visiting family in another town. Mr. Williams catches Jonah with the books and whips him for stealing, unaware that his young wife gave them to him. Jonah decides to run away and use his knowledge of maps to go north to freedom in Canada where there are no slaves.

Jonah’s journey is treacherous while he pretends to run errands for a fake master when anyone questions him. He’s clever, so he comes up with ways to convince others he’s telling the truth. He has many skills, including ingenuity, to aid his survival in a mostly inhospitable wilderness in-between towns. At one point, he is captured by bootleggers and forced to haul jugs for them. He escapes their cruelty, only to be chased by someone else, narrowly escaping capture and torture.

In chapter five, Jonah meets Angel late one night when he stumbles upon a group of slaves dancing. The slaves on Angel’s plantation sneak off with other plantation slaves for Jubilee, a celebration with some dark rituals. Angel introduces Jonah to sex at Jubilee. She is her master’s slave mistress. Angel decides she’s tired of warming her master’s bed and follows Jonah. But Jonah doesn’t want company and eventually he ditches Angel.

After they’re separated the first time, their journeys become a game of cat and mouse. Sometimes Angel catches Jonah, only for him to escape her once again. Will Angel’s dream of getting married ever come true? Will they get themselves to freedom, or be sent back to their masters?

CHASING THE NORTH STAR is a historical coming of age story for Jonah and Angel but it’s written with adult scenes so that’s who should read it. In many ways Jonah and Angel seem younger than they are because they have been sheltered and uneducated during their life as slaves. An adventure, their escape, plus the various atrocities they endure, pulls you in, hoping for their freedom.

Jonah and Angel aren’t always likable characters individually or as a couple. Most of the time I didn’t care if they stayed together, based on their treatment of one another. What I did care about is that they somehow found their freedom from slavery. I empathized with their situation but their actions and thoughts were sometimes disturbing.

Hardcore historical fiction lovers will value this book most for its adventure aspects and survivalist methods. I rooted for the characters to escape the distasteful practice of slavery and all its nuances. Their adventure was engrossing, as well as their will to survive every despicable thing that happened to them along the way. For that reason, I read this book quickly to the end. I don’t remember reading about an underground railroad connection as these characters seemed to be acting on their own without help from abolitionists.

What I did not enjoy were their sexual exploits, as well as the cruelty of others toward Angel. She seemed to accept her circumstances with a devil-may-care attitude about sex and I expected her to resent her treatment more than accept it or initiate it. If you normally read romantic historical fiction, you won’t find much delicacy in regards to this couple’s relationship. Neither of them seem to have morals, willing to steal or worse to reach their goal. Even reading the Bible doesn’t seem to point them in the right direction. I never felt their caring for each other as a healthy emotion. Most of the time I felt they treated each other with disrespect and I didn’t understand why they wanted to be together. Other than they had journeyed together for so long that their stories were familiar and intertwined. I was most confused by Angel’s pursuit of Jonah because he was so selfish. She definitely had spunk and didn’t accept rejection without determination to get her own way.

Author Robert Morgan writes an intriguing historical adventure that’s believable based on his characters’ knowledge. Jonah was repetitive in his words and his thoughts, so some of that could have been edited to streamline this story into a more succinct package. I didn’t get bored but I kept feeling like I had just read that phrase or thought. I read an advance copy so these repeats may have been revised for publication. I cannot recommend this book to romance readers because I don’t think it has the elements they will expect. But this book wasn’t presented to me as a romance. It’s listed as African American historical family saga on Amazon, which suits it better. I merely mention it because I had hoped it would satisfy my craving for a historical romance with slaves escaping as a theme, but this book doesn’t resemble those wishes enough to satisfy those specific expectations.

CHASING THE NORTH STAR will incite your anger at the inhumanity of slavery in early America, hoping for a better tomorrow for these characters who endure the callousness of being hunted. Robert Morgan’s gritty style of historical fiction is literary, yet the simple words flow quickly as the adventure races. Stylistically it’s different from what I normally read so I found that aspect stimulating. Even though there were some parts I didn’t enjoy as much as the adventure, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about this novel. I want to know what happens to Jonah and Angel’s descendants. Did Jonah and Angel each pass on their story through generations? CHASING THE NORTH STAR will make you wonder long after the last page is turned.

Review by Dorine, courtesy of The Zest Quest. Digital ARC provided by the publisher through NetGalley.

[Veronica · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my favorite books when I was a child was "Underground to Canada" by Barbara Smucker which detailed the horrific situation of people forced into slavery and their brave and dangerous journey to Canada to find freedom. It was my first introduction into this part of our shameful history. The book was written for children and it is one of those books that stuck with me long after I finished it. I never forgot it.
Chasing the North Star: A Novel is also a story of someone who wants to escape slavery for a better life up north. This novel, however, is written for adults and it is much more specific and detailed than the novel I read as a child. Robert Morgan must have done a lot of research to prepare for this novel and it shows. He blends history with a fictional story seamlessly. He brings the main characters of Jonah and Angel to life with all of their hopes and dreams and their human frailty. You can't help but cheer and feel for the characters as they try to make their way to freedom. It isn't easy to write a historical novel. Sometimes history takes up so much time that the novel is very dry and you don't get a real sense of the story or the characters. That is not the case here. Robert Morgan has brought to life a very real account of man's cruelty to one another, and the strength of the human heart to survive. This is one novel I won't forget.
I received a copy of this novel from the publisher via Netgalley for free in exchange for an honest review.

[Jacqueline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Morgan summons a narrative that clearly describes the people, culture and emotions of the time, especially in antebellum North Carolina and later in New York. His personal connection to the land, including its history and features, enables the reader to experience the thrilling escape vividly. His historical nuances and references are spot-on. I read Robert Morgan for his luscious descriptions of the Appalachians, where I live. I have to comment on Morgan’s artistry as a poet because his prose reflects the beautiful imagery of his poems. From the conclusion of “Honey”: “…each cell a hex perfect as a snowflake, a sealed relic of sun and time and roots of many acres fixed in crystal-tight arrays, in rows and lattices of sweeter latin from scattered prose of meadow, woods.” The main story in this book, a young man's escape from slavery, is pretty straight forward. It's a good story with plenty of tension and well defined characters. In it, eighteen year old Jonah journeys north towards freedom and dignity and gains something more along the way. It's the kind of story that's been told before and will likely be told again. What stands out is the phrasing and cadence of the writing - it's almost song-like or poetic.

[Kathy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Chasing the North Star is a rather bland, predictable story about an escaped slave's journey to the north and freedom. Readable, yes, but not breaking any new ground and not something I would recommend.

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Robert Morgan has widely published his poetry and fiction over the past few years. His work has been included in an O'Henry Awards anthology, selected as the Appalachian Writers Association as Book of the Year, selected for Oprah's Book Club and a New York Times Bestseller. Adding to this impressive oeuvre is his latest wilderness survival novel, the slave escape journey of Jonah and Angel, in Chasing the North Star. 

He was called Jonah because he was born during a terrible storm and his mama said soon as she let go of him and put him ashore in this world of folly and time the thunder quieted and the wind laid. Trees had broken off their stumps and skipped across fields like dust brooms, and the Saluda River spread wide over the bottomlands. Some of the slave cabins behind Mr. Williams's brick house got smashed to splinters by the high tempest.

Jonah is a companion slave as a child, taking the opportunity to learn to read alongside the children of his master, Mr. Williams. As he grows older, he reads anything he can lay his hands on, from the Bible to maps and newspapers, through which he learns that there is a safe place where there is no slavery, to the north. When he is wrongfully accused of a crime and stripped of his dignity, he makes a run for it, with nothing but a few coins in his pocket and a vague idea of his final destination. Along the way he encounters bandits, kindness, cruelty and a girl named Angel (who "ain't no angel").

But as soon as Jonah was cut loose and washed off in a pan and wrapped up in a towel rag, his mama said the sky cleared and the moon came out and shined so bright you could see a needle in the light from the window. Everything the storm had ruined was vivid in the moonlight, including dead birds that had been torn from their roosts and snakes washed out of holes in the ground.

What I liked most about this book was the sense of place. I loved the connection with the trees and nature, the appreciation of beauty in it without censoring the ugly, dead things that are real. It was a great parallel to the depiction of the characters as neither fully good nor fully evil, putting forth a message that we're all capable of good and evil but our circumstances and choices determine which side we're on. And in that sense, Jonah is not a perfect hero, or an infallibly pure and hard-done-by slave. He makes good choices and bad ones, he acts out of selfishness as well as generosity. It is real and it is honest, and it gave an extra level of depth to a fairly linear story.

Because Jonah arrived on the full of the moon in the middle of a storm under the sign of the Crab, his mama called him her moon baby. The granny woman that delivered him said he would always be darting away, running from one thing and then another. He'd be no more dependable than Jonah in the Holy Book.

The juxtaposition of nature, the biblical imagery and the human tragedy of slavery and Jonah's struggle towards freedom and survival is made vivid through Morgan's poetic metaphors and imagery. Forces of nature are personified - the wind doesn't die down, it lays. Storms don't abate, they quieten. This gives the natural world around Jonah a vivacity akin to the faerie forest in Shakespeare's  "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and gives a good background to the more mystical or dreamlike sequences in the story, such as the mysterious lights in the forest that lead Jonah towards a group of slaves dancing and singing deep in the hills.

When Mr. Williams hit him the first lick, the sting flashed through him. The hurt was not as bad as he expected and at the same time it was worse. It was a hurt he'd known before, but the lash also touched a new raw place. He jumped and twisted and felt something hot on his leg. He was pissing on the planks of the wall and the piss splashed back on him.

The only part that fell a bit flat to me was the pacing. The story of a slave's escape is by nature linear, as it traces their journey from slavery to freedom. However, having sections told from Jonah's perspective, and later from Angel's perspective, while giving a better sense of how unreliable they are as narrators individually (and thereby giving a good idea of their characters) ended up being overly repetitive as the device was repeated several times. What's more, the pace did not ebb and flow - it was as relentless as the heat on their backs as they marched along their route. While it propelled the story forward, it meant that the ups didn't feel as up and the downs didn't feel as down - I became numbed to their hardships until they didn't seem that hard at all. Besides the pacing, I wasn't really convinced of the relationship between Jonah and Angel - it felt forced.

If he didn't run away tonight, he'd run away next week, or next year. That was certain as the wet ground under his feet and the twinkling heavens overhead.

Overall, this was a good read with exquisite style and a wonderful sense of place and time. However, the pacing and linearity meant it was not as emotionally affecting as I think it could have been, and the main conflict-resolution of the relationship between the two main characters was not as compelling as it could have been.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

After being whipped for having a book, Jonah Williams decides to runaway to the North. Along the way, he meets Angel, another slave, who decides to join him. Despite his best efforts to lose her, she manages to keep finding him even after they get separated. The two eventually make it to the North and freedom and their burgeoning love story ends.

This was a little bit disappointing. There were some factual errors and a lot more sex that I'd prefer. I did like switching back and forth between Jonah and Angel's voices though.

[Jade · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like the story this book told about the trials that the characters faced during their journey, but it seemed to really slow down about halfway through. The writing style was descriptive yet clear so I enjoyed that. However, I just needed more speed toward the end to finish it off strong.

[Dee Dee G · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jonah really grew up on his journey to become free. He made a lot of mistakes along the way.

[Cindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this story based on true events of two runaway slaves. Filled with hope, love, and salvation.

[Charles Weinblatt]

Chasing the North Star by Robert Morgan is the gripping and convincing story of a bright and courageous slave in the American South during the 1850’s who runs away seeking freedom. Richly imaginative and thoroughly well researched, Morgan walks the reader through an extensive and thrilling escape, filled with fiery insight and deep personal conviction.

Jonah is a teenaged slave who escapes his plantation after a severe lashing for reading a book which his master thought was stolen. He decides to run away to Canada, where he can live free. Not long after the escape, Jonah encounters Angel, who is somewhat older, attractive and who is also committed to running to freedom. She falls in love with Jonah, having a better understanding of his personality than does Jonah himself. Together, they fight the elements, climb mountains and repeatedly escape from the long arm of the law and whites who seek the bounty for their return.

Although Jonah initially attempts to leave Angel behind, she repeatedly appears. Together, they manage the unimaginable, overcoming immense adversity with their intelligence, determination and providence. Angel’s first-person chronicle is imparted within Jonah’s journey, chapter by chapter, providing an alternate perspective which exacerbates the depth of the plot.

Jonah escapes from his South Carolina plantation with only a memorized map and the north star to guide his way. An intelligent plantation house worker, Jonah learned how to read and write by observing his master’s children as they were tutored. Without the ability to read, such an escape would have been impossible.

Aiding a runaway slave was a serious crime. Turning in a runaway slave provided a handsome reward. Jonah and Angel knew they were on their own and could trust no one. Hiding during the day and running all night, they faced the elements, including severe storms, floods and eventually, snow. All the while, they had to flee whites who hated them. Repeatedly, they were caught and escaped.

Morgan summons a narrative that clearly describes the people, culture and emotions of the time, especially in antebellum North Carolina and later in New York. His personal connection to the land, including its history and features, enables the reader to experience the thrilling escape vividly. His historical nuances and references are spot-on.

Chasing the North Star is an epic journey, vividly detailed, acutely satisfying, and ultimately hopeful. It sheds light upon some of the darkest moments in American history; yet it also illuminates the charity and love expressed by whites who hid, fed and aided the runaways at the risk of their own lives and those of their families.

[Diane Coto · Rating 5 out of 5]

Johah Williams is a slave on a plantation in South Carolina. It’s 1850; well before the Civil War and Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. He’s Mrs. William’s house slave serving her two children. When the children are taught their lessons, Jonah listens. From those lessons, he teaches himself to read … it was illegal for a slave to read. Mrs. Williams catches him with a book he’d borrowed from their massive library. He thought he’d be beaten. Instead, she arranged for Jonah to read to her from the Bible every day. It was their secret. She even gave him a Bible of his own. This Bible “had letters the size of gnats and hairs. But it was the prettiest book he’d ever seen ….” While Mrs. Williams was away visiting her sister, Jonah was reading in the barn loft. Mr. Williams caught him, accused him of stealing the books, and beat him. It was then that Jonah decided he would seek freedom. That night, he took the jar of coins his mama had collected; a knife from the kitchen; and a hat and headed northward.

When he could, he’d travel by night. When men with guns and dogs were after him, he’d seek water to throw off his scent. After a few nights, he happened onto a ‘Jubilee’. He saw a fire blazing and other Negroes dancing and chanting. It’s there he met Angel. She was also a house slave. The master was using her as his bed warmer. She decided if Jonah could run away, she could run, too. He tried a few times to leave her behind, but she always managed to reappear back in his life.

The character of Jonah was so well-crafted that I could believe he was real as opposed to fictional. He literally traveled by foot, boat, wagon, and train on his journey seeking freedom. The trip was hard not only because he’d be beaten and possibly killed if he were captured and returned to Master Williams, but also because the terrain was perilous and the weather unforgiving. Angel added something very special to this story. As much as Jonah was ‘book smart’, she was ‘street smart’. They complimented each other in ways that Jonah refused to acknowledge. When the synopsis tells us that Angel manages to find Jonah even though he tried to leave her behind, I thought this would be too coincidental to be believable. But it was all very convincing. If you like books in which you can emotionally immerse yourself, you’ll love this story of Jonah’s arduous pursuit of freedom. Rating: 5 out of 5.

[Jill · Rating 3 out of 5]

This historical fiction book follows, in blow-by-blow manner, the journey of the 18-year-old slave Jonah Williams to the North and to freedom following a beating by his master in South Carolina. He is soon joined in his attempt at escape by a young slave woman, Angel, who decides to hitch her star to Jonah and follow him to gain her own freedom.

In a way it is something of an escaping-slave version of the 1987 book Hatchet, the Newbery Honor-winning young-adult wilderness survival novel by Gary Paulsen. Jonah has to overcome a great deal of adversity and a large learning curve to get what he needs to survive. He, along with Angel when he is eventually joined by her, manages in part by a great many felicitous turns of events, in circumstances when making it to the North alive and without mutilation or death was never a sure thing. It might even be said that Jonah and Angel experienced more luck than was probable.

In any event, the story kept me turning the pages. But I had a couple of strongly-felt criticisms of it.

One is the writing. The descriptions of the changing landscape are well written, but I did not think the dialogue sounded realistic. Rather, I thought it ranged from sophomoric to wooden to improbable in many cases.

My biggest problem, however, was with the character of Angel. While I liked Angel’s perseverance and pluck, I found it difficult to believe that so much rape and abuse by men could be so elevating for her self-esteem, making her feel “beautiful” and “wanted.” On the contrary, her portrayal was alarmingly close to the white stereotype of black women as inherently licentious, basically sexualized animals. It was, in my view, a repulsive characterization. In addition, I thought that the lines she spoke or thought were pretty appalling, showing not much insight into what a female in her circumstances might be thinking, at least in my opinion.

Evaluation: If the author had stuck to the story of the male escaping slavery rather than adding in a female, I think it would have been a much better book. I'm trying my best not to see the author as sharing or being complicit in the salacious and degrading gaze of the white men in the book towards Angel, but it's not easy.

Rating:

Jonah's story: 3/5
Angel's story: .5/5

[Lou · Rating 4 out of 5]

A symbolic splendid tale of adventure, enduring fortitude, and love.
A tale of freedom from shackles of slavery.
Two souls, we are immersed into their lives, the man Jonah and the woman Angel.
Angel's first person narrative is vivid with a keen sense of a life for one of love and freedom. Angel a woman at times naive of, and caught in, the injustices and abuses towards her beauty and great love.
She is one great and memorable character to step foot into a sentence of a story.
The narrative of the Jonah is told in the third person, a man who was able to read, among many in his situation who could not, punished for this ability due to his honesty in keeping a promise. With accusations against him a journey to freedom had been initiated. His road to freedom had been fuelled for a time by many elements, but ultimately will love conquer all with the windstorm of obstacles in their paths.
Simplicity of prose layered out in linear fashion.
Vividly brutal at times with some scenes involving torture and one that serves as suitable reading for adults only.
The dark road these characters had to face in the pursuit of happiness is something mankind must never forget and stills remains upon the earth.
The road of Jonah and Angel will be hard to be forgotten due to the success of this author in forging their plight in the evil that men do in smithy of readers heart and mind.
I cannot fault the tale he told with the right sentencing and momentum and one that you just hate to close the book on.
Faulkner like in characters, without the complexity of prose, Flannery O'Connor like in theme, Jack London like in simplicity of storytelling and Robert Morgan like in memorability.

Review also @ http://more2read.com/review/chasing-north-star-robert-morgan/

[Mary Cronk · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this book through the LibraryThing EarlyReviewers.

I enjoyed this tale of two escaped slaves traveling from South to North to freedom. The book was well written and I would consider it a good fiction read about slavery in America.
Robert Morgan researched this book in the Ithaca, NY area where he lives. I also live in central NY and have been interested in the Underground railroad in the area. It does not appear that many slaves went this exact route, but some did and made it to upstate NY or their ultimate destination, Canada. It includes a path through Pennsylvania and highlights here are memorable.

I plan on visiting some the underground railroad sites in NY and PA, when I can.

The book was well written. It is not long and can be read easily in a weekend. The mood of the book is optimistic as while I was reading I knew the two main characters would somehow make it north and hopefully end up together. It is the story of searching for freedom and also finding love.

The book highlights some (but not all) of life on a plantation in the South. Jonah was fortunate that he could read which helped him to escape. Angel's character is not filled in as much as Jonah. We do not know much about her family and what she has left behind. There was not any detail on lives of other slaves left behind.

It is primarily a tale of escape, a story that could easily be read aloud. It has suspense .

If there is an audio version of the book, it would be worth listening to.

[Jeanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Knowing the most lasting pain, was not to one's body but to one's dignity.

I always enjoy a good historical fiction based loosely on actual advents and the those that lived them. Slavery in America's history can teach us much about what happens to a nation when we take away a man's dignity. Such as the case of Jonah Williams who on his 18th birthday ran away after being accused of stealing and punished publically. Jonah had the good fortune of being taught to read by his slave master's wife. She had given Jonah a bible to read and to learn about life and how to live. It is by the word, that Jonah learned that there was something better a freedom. His journey started when he decided to run. Thinking carefully on what he needed to do and what he needed to avoid, he outplayed those that wanted to set him back. In his journey, he came in the company of Angel. The narration is told in their voices. What they had to endure and the decisions they made. Angel is carefree, using what she had to survive. Jonah using his mind to think ahead to what was better.

As you journey with them, you walk in their shoes of what slavery does to a man. Their journey was how man can lose his dignity but still have hope for something better. Jonah did not give up on his dream while Angel did not give up on Jonah. His dream became her dream.

A Special Thank You to Algonquin Books and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story of a runaway slave's grueling journey, Chasing the North Star is by Robert Morgan, the author of Gap Creek. Teenage Jonah is pampered and protected by his owner's wife and secretly allowed to learn to read and write. When his master discovers Jonah with a book he assumes it is stolen. Punishment is dealt and feeling the injustice of his position Jonah determines to run away. He is an innocent in the ways of the greater world. He meets Angel at a Jubilee, a 'fat girl' who serves as her master's mistress. Angela decides to follow Jonah. She knows he needs her, not only for her people savvy but also as a link to his people and his past. The road from North Carolina to freedom in Ithaca, NY is rife with danger and deprivation.

Inspired by Morgan family oral history, the novel is well drawn and the characters memorable. There is of course violence. Although Jonah and Angel were both house slaves and better provided for than field hands they suffered indignities and cruelty. Jonah was whipped unjustly and Angel fattened up to be her master's sex slave. They also suffer psychological violence and natural catastrophe. Everyone they met on their journey know they are escaped slaves, and that puts Jonah and Angel in their power.

Morgan is a good writer and readers will be swept into the book by both his characters and the story line.

I receive a free ARC from the publisher in exchange for an unbiased review.

[Nanci · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great historical novel. Although I've read other books about the Underground Railroad, this one was my favorite so far. The author did a bang up job of describing the land traveled from South Carolina all the way to the North. Living in VA and traveling to many of the areas Jonah and Angel passed through, the author did his research well. It was captivating to read about all the adventures and thrills the two experienced on their way to freedom. I fell in love with the main character, Jonah and also the supporting main character, Angel. Jonah's tender nature and strong sense of right and wrong touched me to my core. Angel, while not schooled like Jonah, was real-life smart, and I was drawn to her spunk and strong sense of perseverance. The mark of a good book to me is how the characters continue to live on in my mind, long after I've finished the last page. My feeling is that Jonah and Angel will stay with me for a good while. Would make a good book club read. 4.5 stars

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Make it 3 1/2 stars. I enjoyed Robert Morgan's "Gap Creek" some time back; so I was eager to read this book. Morgan's description of Jonah's trip "to the north" is the basis of the book. Jonah runs into Angel, who desires to run away with him. There are many hitches, and at times you can't believe what happens, but Morgan shows what it meant to be a negro in slave-owning days. Such a person as Jonah must always be on guard and try to think ahead of the consequences. I must admit that I didn't really care for Angel, but she adds another dimension to how negros were regarded in that era.

[Jan · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book came highly recommended. Unfortunately I did not agree with the reviewer. It was slow, plodding and simplistic. Neither of the main characters was especially appealing and were kind of flat. As others have said, I thought at first it might be a YA novel - until I hit the chapter about "Jubilee." Mercy. I did manage to finish and felt a great sense of relief at reaching the last page.

[Jennifer Wolfe · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the plot of the book and definitely was interested in getting to the end. I felt at times the author took some huge
Leaps to move the story forward. I would have enjoyed a bit deeper character development, especially between Jonah and Angel. I felt as if he was telling me, not showing me.

[Judy Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

A special thank you to Algonquin Books and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Storyteller, Robert Morgan, delivers a lively coming-of-age historical fiction of humanity, CHASING THE NORTH STAR an entertaining, and poignant heartfelt journey of two Southern runaway slaves in the 1850s, forced to leave their families behind for survival--a better life.

A remarkable adventure through the wilderness with newfound courage to hope and freedom, as they follow the North Star. From loss, and tragedy to joy and love—rich in character, history, and charm, assured to captivate readers of all ages.

Jonah was born during a terrible storm, of slaves in a cabin behind The Williams Plantation in the foothills of South Carolina, north of Greenville, just below the cotton line. He arrived on the full moon. His granny always said as a full moon baby, he would be “darting away” running from one thing, and then to another. No more dependable than Jonah in the Holy Bible.

He had been lucky because Mrs. Williams picked him out as a boy to serve her and her children. He was young enough to be Mr. Williams’ own child. She was from Columbia and liked to wear fancy dresses and gives parties. Her children were Betsy and Johnny and she liked for young slaves to serve at parties, and even made him special clothes to act as butler.

Jonah was always around when the tutor came for the children’s lessons. Back then, nobody but white folk were supposed to read. But every chance he got he listened to the lessons and he learned the letters and numbers. It was Mrs. Williams who caught him taking a book from the master’s library—Robinson Crusoe.

He was just borrowing it, not stealing. He found it so interesting. He wanted to read everything. She promised she would not tell anyone he could read. He was afraid he might be sold and sent away to live with strangers. She said she would tell no one if he returned the book to the library, and read to her from the Bible, from time to time.

Mrs. Williams encouraged him to read from the Good Book-- she was going to give him his very own Bible, so he could study it and learn. She said it would make him wise and useful. She even gave him newspapers to read, where he learned about the Fugitive Slave Law, and the Great Compromise. He also read about Northern states—a place beyond North Carolina where no one was a slave.

However, an escaped slave could be arrested and returned to his owner. They had no slaves in the North. He was intrigued with foreign countries, wars, and places he had never heard of. He loved the newspapers—he thought this was Mrs. Williams greatest gift.

The day he did decide to run away from Mr. Williams’ plantation was the day he turned eighteen in 1850. A hot day in the cotton and corn fields in the middle of the summer. The day his secret was discovered.

It was the week Mrs. Williams was away visiting her sister in the mountains- Flat Rock, NC. He had kept the Bible in the loft of the barn (a good hiding place). He would read in the mornings—his secret pleasure, savoring the words and stories. He had gotten careless, and sneaked out a volume of a new story called David Copperfield.

He did not hear the footsteps due to the rain on the ladder in the loft. Mr. Williams saw him reading. He recognized as belonging to his wife. He accused him of stealing and lying. Mr. Williams wanted everyone to live and work in Christian harmony. Stolen books, not knowing he could even read. It was bad. Whipping, and lashing. Now mama was mad, she had warned him about the reading. Nothing would ever be the same.

Jonah had read enough to know about slaves running away to the North. Most got caught …. BUT some made it to the North, and people there would help. He had read about the Underground Railroad and abolitionists and he knew the song “Follow the Drinking Gourd” which meant follow the Big Dipper and the North Star. He had studied maps and wondered how hard it would be to travel through the mountains—he could always follow the North Star.

The problem would be finding something to eat, and to keep from being eaten. Survival. However, he would take the risk, rather than to stay where he had been whipped and shamed—even if it took months. His fate had been sealed. He had to get ready for the journey. He needed money, good shoes, clothes, a map, a knife. He was ashamed to steal from his Mama, but it was the only way he knew to get the funds. He was so afraid, he almost turned back.

Slaves that ran away could be branded with a red hot iron and sometimes had to wear leg irons or a neck collar with spikes, and some had an ear cut off. He needed matches. He could not turn back. He had to be gone before morning. He even forgot food.

He starts his journey toward North Carolina. He would never see his mama or Mrs. Williams again. It was more than a thousand miles to the North, and he could travel ten miles a day—it would take months. He would be noticed, and captured, punished. He could have been born rich and in the North. Instead he’d been born Jonah, a slave- whipped for stealing a book that was already his.

This poor scared naive boy makes his way through the wilderness by foot. Along the way he meets some colorful people and has to be creative in order to survive. Jonah could not understand why God would allow some people to be slaves, and some crippled or afflicted in their minds? No transportation but his feet—he started second guessing his decision. Foolish. Hiding out during the day as best possible gathering what food he could along the way, trying to stay away from people—fearing he would be captured.

Then he meets Angel Also, a black slave, working in her Master’s home and keeping his bed warm at night as well, among other things . . she was intrigued by this boy. She also wanted to escape.

Jonah: An escape from the Williams Place---his strength and hope. His pilgrimage. His freedom. He knows how to read and knows what he wants—just how to get there.

Angel: An escape from the Thomas Place. She did not know how to read or write. She also has her dreams.

Her master was in Raleigh and she had the night free. She knows she is no Angel. There was something about this boy she liked. Maybe it was his gumption and craziness to run away. She had never seen a runaway before. He was foolish enough to escape from wherever he came from, which meant he had more courage, than anyone else she knew…plus she liked his looks. She knew how to make a man happy.

Of course now Jonah’s knife and money, gone--starting over. Guess who is now following him? He did not need someone dragging him down, especially someone with a sharp tongue, an attitude, and a big butt. He had made it this far solo, and he did not need a traveling partner. She thought she was just as brave. They would have to get over the mountains to Tennessee, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New York, before they reached Canada.

He would probably never make it, and with her along, he did not have a shadow of a chance.

Fun, mischief, frustration, romance ----cat and mouse; an adventure with these two which will make you laugh out loud. Angel is strong, stubborn, and overbearing. She is “street smart”, and Jonah, “book smart." She knows creative ways to get things. Jonah is not afraid to take chances. Two halves that together complete wholeness. Yin/ Yang

Even though Jonah leaves Angel many times, and they go their separate ways; they seem to make their way to Ithaca and there they run into one another, once again. A town which was only supposed to be temporary on the way to Canada. Now, they both have new names, and new jobs. Will they be caught or pretend they do not know one another?

Angel’s dream on the road in Virginia-- Houses with pretty flower gardens, a marriage, a home, apple and cherry trees, and chicken houses with big brown eggs. Flowers on the porch. Angel was always at the back of Jonah’s mind. He tried to ignore her after arriving in Ithaca. She had followed him all the way from North Carolina. She had comforted him and helped him survive--she was the only person in Ithaca who could make him happy. Can he ignore her now—with her men folk?

Richly drawn, what a delightful and gripping Southern tale! Angel and Jonah are fun characters and the author did an exceptional job with character development, as well as the secondary characters which became integral parts of their journey. It wouldn’t be a Southern novel without mentions of the Bible, and a minister somewhere along the way.

A North Carolina native, enjoyed visiting familiar places (Flat Rock, and the NC mountain area). This coming-of-age tale, told from a slave’s point of view, in a time when unfortunately, they had no voice or rights-- A nice mix of wit, grit, and humor to balance the injustice of slavery.

In addition to the digital copy, I also listened to the audiobook, narrated by Kevin R. Free and Carra Patterson with nice voices for both Jonah and Angel.

Slavery in the South The lives of black people under slavery in the South were controlled by all sorts of laws from state to their own masters--cruel beyond comprehension. No constitutional rights. Forbidden to learn how to read and write. The most effective way that a slave could retaliate against an owner was to run away. Approximately 100,000 slaves escaped from bondage in the South between 1810 and 1850. No issue has scarred our country with long term effects than slavery. When we celebrate American freedom, we must also be mindful of the long and painful struggle to share in those freedoms that faced, and continue to face generations of African Americans.

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