Sam's Boy

by Geoffrey Finch

In the turbulent household of the great 18thc writer, Samuel Johnson, a young black manservant, Frank Barber, begins a quest to solve the mystery of his parentage. Treated more like a son than a servant by his frequently irascible and sick master he begins to question who and what he is. Frank’s search takes him deep into the heart of black England where he learns what it means to be black in the late 18thc. Understanding his own past, involves understanding his master’s, a man with demons of his own to exorcise. Will Frank succeed in discovering the truth about his roots and will it be worth risking everything he holds dear?Told through fictional memoirs and diary entries Sam’s Boy vividly recreates what life was like in Johnson’s household. Set against the principal events in the last decade of Johnson’s life, it explores the guilt and pain which often accompany success as well as the possibilities for a fuller understanding of ourselves and others.

246 pages, Paperback

Published July 19, 2018

About the author

Geoffrey Finch has taught English at universities in New Zealand and Nigeria and is Senior Lecturer in Humanities at Anglia Polytechnic University, UK, where he lectures and writes on both language and literature.