What do you think?
Rate this book
In the Upper Country
The fates of two unforgettable women--one just beginning a journey of reckoning and self-discovery and the other completing her life's last vital act--intertwine in this sweeping, powerful novel set at the terminus of the Underground Railroad.
In the 1800s in Dunmore, a Canadian town settled by people fleeing enslavement in the American south, young Lensinda Martin works for a crusading Black journalist.
One night, a neighboring farmer summons Lensinda after a slave hunter is shot dead on his land by an old woman who recently arrived via the Underground Railroad. When the old woman refuses to flee before the authorities arrive, the farmer urges Lensinda to gather testimony from her before she can be condemned for the crime.
But the old woman doesn't want to confess. Instead she proposes a barter: a story for a story. And so begins an extraordinary exchange of tales that reveal an interwoven history of Black and Indigenous peoples in a wide swath of what is called North America.
As time runs out, Lensinda is challenged to uncover her past and face her fears in order to make good on the bargain of a story for a story. And it seems the old woman may carry a secret that could shape Lensinda's destiny.
Traveling along the path of the Underground Railroad from Virginia to Michigan, from the Indigenous nations around the Great Lakes, to the Black refugee communities of Canada, In the Upper Country weaves together unlikely stories of love, survival, and familial upheaval that map the interconnected history of the peoples of North America in an entirely new and resonant way.
In the 1800s in Dunmore, a Canadian town settled by people fleeing enslavement in the American south, young Lensinda Martin works for a crusading Black journalist.
One night, a neighboring farmer summons Lensinda after a slave hunter is shot dead on his land by an old woman who recently arrived via the Underground Railroad. When the old woman refuses to flee before the authorities arrive, the farmer urges Lensinda to gather testimony from her before she can be condemned for the crime.
But the old woman doesn't want to confess. Instead she proposes a barter: a story for a story. And so begins an extraordinary exchange of tales that reveal an interwoven history of Black and Indigenous peoples in a wide swath of what is called North America.
As time runs out, Lensinda is challenged to uncover her past and face her fears in order to make good on the bargain of a story for a story. And it seems the old woman may carry a secret that could shape Lensinda's destiny.
Traveling along the path of the Underground Railroad from Virginia to Michigan, from the Indigenous nations around the Great Lakes, to the Black refugee communities of Canada, In the Upper Country weaves together unlikely stories of love, survival, and familial upheaval that map the interconnected history of the peoples of North America in an entirely new and resonant way.
352 pages, Hardcover
First published January 10, 2023
231 people are currently reading
12747 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 349 reviews
December 16, 2022
In the Upper Country by Kai Thomas was a very enlightening and powerful novel. It was about the role certain Canadian towns played in harboring and taking in free and escaped Black people and former slaves and how their new found freedom was respected. Kai Thomas also explored the relationships between Blacks and Indigenous people. Kai Thomas’s debut novel, In the Upper Country, was most definitely a character driven book. It portrayed two strong women protagonists, one young and just starting to explore her life and one old who had weathered many hardships, triumphs, disappointments, upheavals, sadness and joy. In the Upper Country took place in the 1800’s in a town called Dunmore. Dunmore was a fictional Canadian town that had been settled by Black slaves that had escaped from their lives of slavery in the Deep South of the United States along the Underground Railroad. These former slaves found their way into Canada through Buffalo, New York along the Eastern coast and through Michigan. Although the author of In the Upper Country invented the town of Dunmore, there were actual towns in Canada that mimicked it.
Lesinda Martin had grown up in Spancel Narrows with her mother, father and brother. The people that lived in Spancel Narrows were lucky to have the older bachelor, Samuel Frost, as their neighbor. Not only was he kind and generous but he often invited his “coloured” neighbors into his home to share each other’s company and stories. Lesinda’s mother cleaned Samuel Frost’s home and cooked for him. For many years, Lesinda accompanied her mother to Samuel Frost’s home where he taught Lesinda how to read, write and “tally accounts”. This knowledge that Samuel Frost imparted to Lesinda proved to be a great asset for Lesinda throughout her life.
Lesinda or Sinda as most called her, left Spancel Narrows in the dead of night and arrived in Dunmore. She worked for Arabella, a young black journalist that wrote for the newspaper, The Coloured Canadian. Sinda lived in Arabella’s house and helped take care of her brother’s children and run the house when Arabella was traveling. One night Sinda was summoned from her bed. A white man had been shot. The white man had arrived in Dunmore at Simeon’s hog farm accompanied by an Indian. They were slave catchers sent from Kentucky. The white man had come to take the runaways back to Kentucky with him. Simeon had been harboring two runaway slave women. The older runaway slave woman had shot the white slave catcher out in the corn field but the Indian was nowhere to be found. He had simply vanished after the old woman had been seen talking to him. Sinda thought she had been called to heal the wounded man but he was already dead. Simeon wanted Sinda to tell the old woman’s story. The constable was on his way. The old runaway slave woman would be put in jail for murder. Could Sinda get the old woman’s testimony and tell her story before she was condemned for the murder?
When Sinda went the next day to the jail to get the old woman’s testimony, Sinda came face to face with a very stubborn and difficult woman. The old woman had no intention of confessing her crime to Sinda. Her remarks and lack of cooperation frustrated Sinda so much that Sinda refused to go back to see the old woman. Sinda sent Arabella to get the old woman’s testimony but the old woman refused to talk to Arabella. The old woman would only speak to Sinda. When Sinda agreed to go back to the jail to speak to the old woman she was surprised when the woman suggested that they take turns telling stories about their lives. Thus began a bartering of stories. The stories that were told revealed many things. They were told over a course of several days. The connection between black and Indigenous peoples was revealed through the old woman’s stories and she portrayed their interwoven history through her stories. The old woman even came to confess a secret that she had been carrying for so long. That secret would come to alter Sinda’s life as she had known it. As each bartered story was told, Sinda and the old woman developed an understanding of each other. The woman had been harboring the secret for so long. Through her stories she was finally able to tell it. That secret and the stories the old woman shared with Sinda would forever alter Sinda’s life.
I did not know that Canada was known as a refuge for runaway slaves before reading In the Upper Country or that blacks and Indigenous people had an interwoven history. It was fascinating to learn that whole towns existed that were comprised of only black former slaves. Kai Thomas portrayed a lot of the history between the blacks and Indigenous people in the stories Sinda and the old woman shared with each other. It was a unique way and pleasing way of expressing these details. In the Upper Country was Kai Thomas’s debut novel. I look forward to reading more books by him. Publication is set for January 10, 2023.
Thank you to Viking/ Penguin Random House Publishing for allowing me to read this ARC of In the Upper Country by Kai Thomas through a Goodreads giveaway in exchange for an honest review.
Lesinda Martin had grown up in Spancel Narrows with her mother, father and brother. The people that lived in Spancel Narrows were lucky to have the older bachelor, Samuel Frost, as their neighbor. Not only was he kind and generous but he often invited his “coloured” neighbors into his home to share each other’s company and stories. Lesinda’s mother cleaned Samuel Frost’s home and cooked for him. For many years, Lesinda accompanied her mother to Samuel Frost’s home where he taught Lesinda how to read, write and “tally accounts”. This knowledge that Samuel Frost imparted to Lesinda proved to be a great asset for Lesinda throughout her life.
Lesinda or Sinda as most called her, left Spancel Narrows in the dead of night and arrived in Dunmore. She worked for Arabella, a young black journalist that wrote for the newspaper, The Coloured Canadian. Sinda lived in Arabella’s house and helped take care of her brother’s children and run the house when Arabella was traveling. One night Sinda was summoned from her bed. A white man had been shot. The white man had arrived in Dunmore at Simeon’s hog farm accompanied by an Indian. They were slave catchers sent from Kentucky. The white man had come to take the runaways back to Kentucky with him. Simeon had been harboring two runaway slave women. The older runaway slave woman had shot the white slave catcher out in the corn field but the Indian was nowhere to be found. He had simply vanished after the old woman had been seen talking to him. Sinda thought she had been called to heal the wounded man but he was already dead. Simeon wanted Sinda to tell the old woman’s story. The constable was on his way. The old runaway slave woman would be put in jail for murder. Could Sinda get the old woman’s testimony and tell her story before she was condemned for the murder?
When Sinda went the next day to the jail to get the old woman’s testimony, Sinda came face to face with a very stubborn and difficult woman. The old woman had no intention of confessing her crime to Sinda. Her remarks and lack of cooperation frustrated Sinda so much that Sinda refused to go back to see the old woman. Sinda sent Arabella to get the old woman’s testimony but the old woman refused to talk to Arabella. The old woman would only speak to Sinda. When Sinda agreed to go back to the jail to speak to the old woman she was surprised when the woman suggested that they take turns telling stories about their lives. Thus began a bartering of stories. The stories that were told revealed many things. They were told over a course of several days. The connection between black and Indigenous peoples was revealed through the old woman’s stories and she portrayed their interwoven history through her stories. The old woman even came to confess a secret that she had been carrying for so long. That secret would come to alter Sinda’s life as she had known it. As each bartered story was told, Sinda and the old woman developed an understanding of each other. The woman had been harboring the secret for so long. Through her stories she was finally able to tell it. That secret and the stories the old woman shared with Sinda would forever alter Sinda’s life.
I did not know that Canada was known as a refuge for runaway slaves before reading In the Upper Country or that blacks and Indigenous people had an interwoven history. It was fascinating to learn that whole towns existed that were comprised of only black former slaves. Kai Thomas portrayed a lot of the history between the blacks and Indigenous people in the stories Sinda and the old woman shared with each other. It was a unique way and pleasing way of expressing these details. In the Upper Country was Kai Thomas’s debut novel. I look forward to reading more books by him. Publication is set for January 10, 2023.
Thank you to Viking/ Penguin Random House Publishing for allowing me to read this ARC of In the Upper Country by Kai Thomas through a Goodreads giveaway in exchange for an honest review.
November 22, 2023
November 21, 2023 Update Now the winner of the 2023 Atwood Gibson Writers' Trust Award for Fiction. Read further about the winner and the 2023 shortlist here.
Upper Country Underground
Review of the Viking hardcover original (January 10, 2023).
Shortlisted for the 2023 Atwood Gibson Writers' Trust Fiction Prize with the winner to be announced November 21, 2023.
This is an ambitious novel which covers a variety of little known history and sometimes secret history. It includes the settlements inhabited in Southwestern Ontario (called Upper Canada at the time) by both freeborn blacks and fugitive slaves from the U.S. south, slave hunters crossing borders in manhunts, the sometime bonds & mixed marriages between indigenous peoples and black canadians/americans, the War of 1812 and the alliance of Tecumseh's Native Confederacy and Britain against the United States, the slavery-era in Canada before it was banned, the Underground Railroad from the U.S. to Canada with actual underground cavern cities.
It is a challenge to take it all in, especially as it is not all told chronologically. It unfolds in the fictional town of Dunmore in 1859 (near Chatham, Ontario close to the Canada/U.S. Detroit border), where an elderly escaped slave-woman named Cash has been jailed for shooting an American slave-hunter who tried to capture her. A young woman reporter Lensinda (aka Sinda) is sent to the jail to get Cash's story for the local newspaper The Coloured Canadian. Cash will only reveal her story in exchange for stories from Sinda, and that is the setup for the rest of the book as the two woman trade tales which culminate in the discovery of their hidden personal connection.
I would have wanted to give this a 5 rating but it is the sprawling nature of it which makes for some difficulty in following along. I kept thinking about what could have been done further to give the reader a path to follow. A set of Family Trees or a List of Characters would have been a strong plus (this could have been placed at the back if some would have considered them spoilers). An index of the chronology of the stories within the chapters would also have made a big difference. These are all things that I picture doing in notations on a second read-through, so in a sense the reader has to do some of the editing themselves. Some will appreciate the challenge, but even if the whole picture doesn't come through clearly, the individual tales here are harrowing, terrifying and often desperate, with a peace still to be found at the end.
I read In the Upper Country through being introduced to it at the 2023 Lakefield Literary Festival.
Author Kai Thomas (right) in discussion with moderator John Barber (left) and author Waubgeshig Rice (Moon of the Turning Leaves (2023)) at the 2023 Lakefield Literary Festival, Canada.
Other Reviews
A Tree Planting Encounter Inspires Historical Black Fiction by Brett Josef Grubisic, Toronto Star, January 6, 2023.
Kai Thomas weaves myth and history in debut novel In the Upper Country, Emily Donaldson, Globe and Mail, February 2, 2023.
Trivia and Links
Author Kai Thomas is interviewed on NPR Radio, January 12, 2023 about the release of the book. You can read the transcript and listen to the audio.
As author Kai Thomas explains in his excellent Afterword, he was inspired to write this novel after learning about settlements similar to Dunmore in Southwestern Ontario. A likely inspiration is the town of Buxton (now North & South Buxton) near Chatham, Ontario. A photograph was another inspiration:
Upper Country Underground
Review of the Viking hardcover original (January 10, 2023).
For nearly a decade now, refugees from slavery have been under the terror of the fugitive slave act, putting them in peril of their lives at every turn in their native land. This act has driven thousands into Canada, and now it is not only the fugitive but the fugitive hunter who makes bold incursions into British domain.
Shortlisted for the 2023 Atwood Gibson Writers' Trust Fiction Prize with the winner to be announced November 21, 2023.
This is an ambitious novel which covers a variety of little known history and sometimes secret history. It includes the settlements inhabited in Southwestern Ontario (called Upper Canada at the time) by both freeborn blacks and fugitive slaves from the U.S. south, slave hunters crossing borders in manhunts, the sometime bonds & mixed marriages between indigenous peoples and black canadians/americans, the War of 1812 and the alliance of Tecumseh's Native Confederacy and Britain against the United States, the slavery-era in Canada before it was banned, the Underground Railroad from the U.S. to Canada with actual underground cavern cities.
It is a challenge to take it all in, especially as it is not all told chronologically. It unfolds in the fictional town of Dunmore in 1859 (near Chatham, Ontario close to the Canada/U.S. Detroit border), where an elderly escaped slave-woman named Cash has been jailed for shooting an American slave-hunter who tried to capture her. A young woman reporter Lensinda (aka Sinda) is sent to the jail to get Cash's story for the local newspaper The Coloured Canadian. Cash will only reveal her story in exchange for stories from Sinda, and that is the setup for the rest of the book as the two woman trade tales which culminate in the discovery of their hidden personal connection.
I would have wanted to give this a 5 rating but it is the sprawling nature of it which makes for some difficulty in following along. I kept thinking about what could have been done further to give the reader a path to follow. A set of Family Trees or a List of Characters would have been a strong plus (this could have been placed at the back if some would have considered them spoilers). An index of the chronology of the stories within the chapters would also have made a big difference. These are all things that I picture doing in notations on a second read-through, so in a sense the reader has to do some of the editing themselves. Some will appreciate the challenge, but even if the whole picture doesn't come through clearly, the individual tales here are harrowing, terrifying and often desperate, with a peace still to be found at the end.
I read In the Upper Country through being introduced to it at the 2023 Lakefield Literary Festival.
Author Kai Thomas (right) in discussion with moderator John Barber (left) and author Waubgeshig Rice (Moon of the Turning Leaves (2023)) at the 2023 Lakefield Literary Festival, Canada.
Other Reviews
A Tree Planting Encounter Inspires Historical Black Fiction by Brett Josef Grubisic, Toronto Star, January 6, 2023.
Kai Thomas weaves myth and history in debut novel In the Upper Country, Emily Donaldson, Globe and Mail, February 2, 2023.
Trivia and Links
Author Kai Thomas is interviewed on NPR Radio, January 12, 2023 about the release of the book. You can read the transcript and listen to the audio.
As author Kai Thomas explains in his excellent Afterword, he was inspired to write this novel after learning about settlements similar to Dunmore in Southwestern Ontario. A likely inspiration is the town of Buxton (now North & South Buxton) near Chatham, Ontario. A photograph was another inspiration:
I came across a photograph of John “Daddy” Hall, a man of African and Indigenous descent who has an incredible story. He had fought in the War of 1812, been captured and survived decades of slavery in Kentucky, and escaped all the way up to Owen Sound, Ontario, where he became the town crier and lived to be over 115 years old. It was a story that brought together several corners of history I had never truly examined: black-native alliances in slavery-era Canada, Indigenous sovereignty, the Underground Railroad, and the politics of free black settlement.
August 27, 2024
”How … how came you to slavery?”
“Same as everyone I reckon … I was born Negro in this world.”
IN THE UPPER COUNTRY is a poignant story, positively pregnant with delicious possibilities of freed black men and women in pre-Confederation Upper Canada, bounty hunters in search of escaped slaves, and the black people’s part in the War of 1812 and their relationship with aboriginal nations in both Canada and the USA. The opening chapters, the introduction of the main protagonist, and the tale of the murder of a traveling American bounty hunter looking to recover an escaped slave (and the implicit politics of the reality of that attempted recovery taking place in territory that would ultimately become Canada) was enthralling. I was hooked!
Then the train fell completely off the tracks as multiple railway lines led in multiple directions with no apparent destination! Too many characters, too many story lines, ambiguous narrators, no clarity as to the timeline of individual stories – in short, I was hopelessly lost, completely frustrated and bogged down, and (frankly inevitably) on the edge of tossing it against the wall as a DNF! Moments of atmospheric, descriptive brilliance are the only thing that prodded me to an ending for which I was sadly grateful.
No enjoyment and, as you might guess, no recommendation to my fellow readers beyond … read at your own risk! YMMV!
Paul Weiss
“Same as everyone I reckon … I was born Negro in this world.”
IN THE UPPER COUNTRY is a poignant story, positively pregnant with delicious possibilities of freed black men and women in pre-Confederation Upper Canada, bounty hunters in search of escaped slaves, and the black people’s part in the War of 1812 and their relationship with aboriginal nations in both Canada and the USA. The opening chapters, the introduction of the main protagonist, and the tale of the murder of a traveling American bounty hunter looking to recover an escaped slave (and the implicit politics of the reality of that attempted recovery taking place in territory that would ultimately become Canada) was enthralling. I was hooked!
Then the train fell completely off the tracks as multiple railway lines led in multiple directions with no apparent destination! Too many characters, too many story lines, ambiguous narrators, no clarity as to the timeline of individual stories – in short, I was hopelessly lost, completely frustrated and bogged down, and (frankly inevitably) on the edge of tossing it against the wall as a DNF! Moments of atmospheric, descriptive brilliance are the only thing that prodded me to an ending for which I was sadly grateful.
No enjoyment and, as you might guess, no recommendation to my fellow readers beyond … read at your own risk! YMMV!
Paul Weiss
December 20, 2022
"Beware a dangerous tale, it is a knife that must be used, or left to lay." –Simeon
Having not read any fiction that portrays the lives of Black women and men who sought freedom across the border and who formed relations and relationships with the Indigenous people, I was eager to read Thomas' novel. Add in that he is of Trini heritage and I was even more intrigued to see what he could do with this narrative. I was not disappointed.
Thomas uses a format that is inherent in our culture of passing on stories orally, of trading tales that bind and allow us to forge deeper community. The exchange of stories between Lensinda and the old woman is both illuminating and reflective. We learn of how a helping hand is extended, the ways in which persons flee bondage and are shepherded across into a community that welcomes and shields. We also witness how such a community thrives and supports each other.
And even when violence and dark actions were portrayed it was not for gratuitous satisfaction but to show the reality under which Black bodies existed. There were many ways in which this narrative could have become mired in trauma, as is the history that is being depicted, but Thomas is thoughtful and intent on bringing stories of freedom fought and won to the fore.
I was reminded of other books that tackled similar stories and that were structured similarly and all were by Caribbean authors or authors of Caribbean heritage: The Confessions of Frannie Langton, The Polished Hoe, Remembrance, and Book of the Little Axe. It must be something in the blood, this way of rendering such history on the page.
I didn't expect to love this as much as I did. It is good.
Having not read any fiction that portrays the lives of Black women and men who sought freedom across the border and who formed relations and relationships with the Indigenous people, I was eager to read Thomas' novel. Add in that he is of Trini heritage and I was even more intrigued to see what he could do with this narrative. I was not disappointed.
Thomas uses a format that is inherent in our culture of passing on stories orally, of trading tales that bind and allow us to forge deeper community. The exchange of stories between Lensinda and the old woman is both illuminating and reflective. We learn of how a helping hand is extended, the ways in which persons flee bondage and are shepherded across into a community that welcomes and shields. We also witness how such a community thrives and supports each other.
And even when violence and dark actions were portrayed it was not for gratuitous satisfaction but to show the reality under which Black bodies existed. There were many ways in which this narrative could have become mired in trauma, as is the history that is being depicted, but Thomas is thoughtful and intent on bringing stories of freedom fought and won to the fore.
I was reminded of other books that tackled similar stories and that were structured similarly and all were by Caribbean authors or authors of Caribbean heritage: The Confessions of Frannie Langton, The Polished Hoe, Remembrance, and Book of the Little Axe. It must be something in the blood, this way of rendering such history on the page.
I didn't expect to love this as much as I did. It is good.
October 29, 2022
I wanted to like this novel a great deal more than I did. The premise of the story was excellent and I’ve not read much about indigenous Canadians or the large congregations of black people who escaped from slavery in the USA and lived just over the Canadian border. Sadly I just couldn’t seem to get into the flow of the novel and while some chapters totally hooked me in, others felt stilted on somehow unrealistic and I lost interest. The characters of Sinda and Cash and in fact all of the largely female cast of characters are well drawn, likeable and in their own ways, flawed but somehow my feelings towards Sinda bordered on apathy. Cash’s back story chapters were for me by far the most exciting and emotionally charged and from about 75% the book did take off and fly for me, but sadly I found the ending slightly predictable.
April 18, 2023
This had the potential to be a really powerful story but for me it missed the mark. Whilst the history & themes presented form a solid foundation for this novel, unfortunately the actual structure of the plot & large number of characters made it hard to follow & truly appreciate. I finish it not completely clear on which story belonged to which character & how they were all related. It lacked clear signalling or explanation. I really respect & praise the intent behind this but think it would benefit from a revised structure.
March 10, 2024
I picked up this book due to its nomination for The Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction. In general, I enjoy historical fiction that is well-written, complex, and based on real events, and this book certainly qualifies. It takes the reader to the fictional town of Dunmore in Southwestern Ontario, a place not typically covered in slave narratives. It is a dark and haunting story. It focuses on free-born Blacks and fugitive slaves in Canada, living in fear of slave catchers crossing the border to recapture them. A key element is their interactions with the indigenous peoples. It contains references to the War of 1812, Tecumseh’s Native Confederacy, and the Underground Railroad from the US to Canada.
One of the main characters is Lensinda. As a black journalist, she is collecting the stories of the escaped slaves. Another primary character, Cash, kills a bounty hunter. The two tell their stories to each other in pieces and parts, switching back and forth and taking big leaps back and forth in time. I think this format makes the book a more difficult read than it needed to be, particularly in light of the various myths and fables added to the mix, and the already difficult subject matter. The time shifts are not signaled in any significant way, so it requires constant focused attention to make sure to follow the storyline. I had to go back and re-read several sections. I am glad I read it, but I think I would have enjoyed it more with a different structure. I like to feel immersed in the flow of a narrative, and I did not find that here. I liked it enough to read another work by this author.
One of the main characters is Lensinda. As a black journalist, she is collecting the stories of the escaped slaves. Another primary character, Cash, kills a bounty hunter. The two tell their stories to each other in pieces and parts, switching back and forth and taking big leaps back and forth in time. I think this format makes the book a more difficult read than it needed to be, particularly in light of the various myths and fables added to the mix, and the already difficult subject matter. The time shifts are not signaled in any significant way, so it requires constant focused attention to make sure to follow the storyline. I had to go back and re-read several sections. I am glad I read it, but I think I would have enjoyed it more with a different structure. I like to feel immersed in the flow of a narrative, and I did not find that here. I liked it enough to read another work by this author.
June 2, 2022
This incredibly unique, devourable lesser-known Canadian history offers stunning perspectives to previously told Underground Railroad stories!
Thomas deftly weaves an unlikely story of love, survival, and familial upheaval that map the interconnected history of the peoples of North America in a resonant way.
Unearthing, and unifying connections between Indigenous and Black slaves like I haven't read before; this eye-opening narrative is ideal for history and literary readers alike, as well as fans of Robert Jones Jr., and Tommy Orange.
Profound, illuminating, and as heart-wrenching as it is heartfelt.
Galley borrowed from the publisher.
Thomas deftly weaves an unlikely story of love, survival, and familial upheaval that map the interconnected history of the peoples of North America in a resonant way.
Unearthing, and unifying connections between Indigenous and Black slaves like I haven't read before; this eye-opening narrative is ideal for history and literary readers alike, as well as fans of Robert Jones Jr., and Tommy Orange.
Profound, illuminating, and as heart-wrenching as it is heartfelt.
Galley borrowed from the publisher.
April 2, 2023
This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year... the premise was EXACTLY up my alley. The delivery, however, was not. You know when you start talking about something, and no one knows what you're talking about, because really, you started the conversation in your head and only started talking out loud halfway through? That's exactly what this book felt like. I didn't know what was happening probably 75% of the time. New people would show up, setting would change, and I was just lost.
March 22, 2023
Kai Thomas has crafted a wonderful story of two strong-willed women, the fictional town of Dummore located in Upper Canada, and the history of slavery in North America.
Lensinda Martin is a Black journalist in mid-1800s Ontario. She lives in Dunmore, a place settled by escaping slaves from America. Lensinda is drawn into a messy situation when a slave hunter is killed by Cash, an elderly woman hiding in the town. Cash refuses to flee to save herself, and the farmer hiding her asks Lensinda to get Cash's testimony before Cash's trial.
Cash insists on the two women exchanging tales, forcing Lensinda to listen to not only how Cash ended up killing the man after her, but how Cash started life as a slave and the many horrible things she experienced over her long years. Along the say, Lensinda begins to get inklings that Cash's past and her own are linked, and Lensinda also sees how intricate and intertwined the relationships are between the indigenous, white and Blacks on the continent.
This was an utterly mesmerizing story of how interconnected the lives and cultures are of the indigenous with whites, and with freed and enslaved Blacks in North America. Kai Thomas’ voice is confident and often lyrical as Lensinda and Cash trade stories and parts of their experiences with each other. The history of North America is complex, and the border between Canada and the US is ephemeral as people travel between the two countries, but attitudes and ideas and blood connect them into a complicated and messy whole.
Thank you to Netgalley and to Penguin Random House Canada for this ARC in exchange for my review.
Lensinda Martin is a Black journalist in mid-1800s Ontario. She lives in Dunmore, a place settled by escaping slaves from America. Lensinda is drawn into a messy situation when a slave hunter is killed by Cash, an elderly woman hiding in the town. Cash refuses to flee to save herself, and the farmer hiding her asks Lensinda to get Cash's testimony before Cash's trial.
Cash insists on the two women exchanging tales, forcing Lensinda to listen to not only how Cash ended up killing the man after her, but how Cash started life as a slave and the many horrible things she experienced over her long years. Along the say, Lensinda begins to get inklings that Cash's past and her own are linked, and Lensinda also sees how intricate and intertwined the relationships are between the indigenous, white and Blacks on the continent.
This was an utterly mesmerizing story of how interconnected the lives and cultures are of the indigenous with whites, and with freed and enslaved Blacks in North America. Kai Thomas’ voice is confident and often lyrical as Lensinda and Cash trade stories and parts of their experiences with each other. The history of North America is complex, and the border between Canada and the US is ephemeral as people travel between the two countries, but attitudes and ideas and blood connect them into a complicated and messy whole.
Thank you to Netgalley and to Penguin Random House Canada for this ARC in exchange for my review.
February 7, 2023
A powerful debut novel that follows the lives of two women connected in unexpected ways. There was a lot going on in this book and I found it a little hard to keep track listening on audio as the perspectives and timelines switched a lot. Parts were more interesting than others for me but overall it was still a great read historical fiction read about slavery and emancipation in the South with surprise connections to Canada too. Recommended for fans of Esi Edugyan's Washington Black.
January 7, 2023
For fans of the Underground Railroad to Canada and the like. In the Upper Country reads like a modern classic. It is brimming with stories and history of black slaves who made their way to Canada for safe refuge intertwined with Native American history. If you enjoy books that are lyrical in prose with historical storytellings, this is the book for you!
“In the 1800’s in Dunmore, a Canadian town settled by people fleeing enslavement in the American South, young Lensinda Martin works for a crusading Black journalist.
One night, a slave hunter is shot dead by an old woman who recently arrived. When the old woman refuses to flee, Lensinda is tasked with gathering testimony before she can be condemned for the crime.
But the old woman doesn’t want to simply confess. Instead she proposes a barter: a story for a story. So begins an extraordinary exchange that reveals a tapestry of interwoven histories.”
Thank you to PRH for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
“In the 1800’s in Dunmore, a Canadian town settled by people fleeing enslavement in the American South, young Lensinda Martin works for a crusading Black journalist.
One night, a slave hunter is shot dead by an old woman who recently arrived. When the old woman refuses to flee, Lensinda is tasked with gathering testimony before she can be condemned for the crime.
But the old woman doesn’t want to simply confess. Instead she proposes a barter: a story for a story. So begins an extraordinary exchange that reveals a tapestry of interwoven histories.”
Thank you to PRH for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
June 6, 2023
IN THE UPPER COUNTRY
Kai Thomas
IN THE UPPER COUNTRY what? WHAT? WHATTTTTT happened? It jumped, it bucked, it rolled around... I could not keep up nor gather enough interest to really pursue it.
DNF at about 120 pages... DONE!
DNF
1 star
Happy Reading!
Kai Thomas
IN THE UPPER COUNTRY what? WHAT? WHATTTTTT happened? It jumped, it bucked, it rolled around... I could not keep up nor gather enough interest to really pursue it.
DNF at about 120 pages... DONE!
DNF
1 star
Happy Reading!
February 12, 2024
It’s the mid-1800s in a small Black community in southern Ontario, not far from the U.S. border and partly made up of those who escaped slavery via the Underground Railroad. When an elderly Black woman fleeing from slavery in Kentucky shoots dead the bounty hunter attempting (illegally) to capture and return her to Kentucky, she’s jailed awaiting trial, and will speak only to a young Black woman journalist. And she’ll only speak to her on condition that they trade stories, revealing connections the younger woman was unaware of. I found myself confused by the story threads here and struggling to remember who connected to whom and how. Many novels jump back and forth in time, but this one did so to such an extent and with so many different characters across such a range of experiences that I just gave up on keeping them straight and kept going along for the ride. (I read it for a book club I belong to.) It was an enjoyable enough read in spite of my confusion, and a worthy effort, meant to show, as the author mentions in his afterword, how Black and indigenous people might have come to intermarry.
December 28, 2022
Haven’t seen anywhere near enough about this stunning novel but honestly I implore you all to read it - harrowing but also beautiful and hopeful, and just really powerful.
This is a different perspective on Black history, slavery and emancipation, which also looks at the impact and relationships with Indigenous people of North America, told through the story of two incredible women at very different stages in their lives who are connected in a surprising way. It’s not an overly long novel, and yet the impact it has in such a short number of pages is an ode to its depth and brilliance.
I’m not going to pretend it’s not a heartbreaking story because there’s no other word for the treatment of Black and Indigenous people at the time this is set. But it does also capture joy and hope and love because none of these stories are one dimensional.
I loved our two main characters and the little twist in their unexpected connection. But what I loved even more about this novel were the stories within the story - I was completely rapt and found every character’s journey moving and compelling. I barely moved for hours once I started reading because it’s just not the kind of book you can put down halfway through - you owe it to the story to give it your full attention and you’re rewarded with an unforgettable story which will stay with you for a very long time. The author is definitely one to look out for, and between the writing, storyline and characters, this was an easy five stars.
did-not-finish
February 25, 2023Stopped at 17%. The writing style is not working for me as I am having difficulty following the character and plot line threads. The storytelling aspect while interesting is not allowing me to settle into the actual story.
January 13, 2023
“But people wanted a story. And I was the one to tell it. Girl, the most you could ever do for them is now.”
In the Upper Country by Kai Thomas is a vast, soaring and fascinating work of historical fiction which shows the power of telling your story.
In the late 1800s, Lensinda Marten is living in Dunmore, Ontario, a town where those fleeing enslavement come for freedom and a new start. She is a writer for the local paper, a storyteller by trade. When a white man (and slave hunter) is murdered in town by an older woman (who just arrived in Dunmore), Lensinda is tasked with finding out what really happened from the woman herself. But her interviewee doesn’t just want to tell her story, she wants to trade stories, which opens up truths and realizations for both of the women and their pasts.
While there were many characters to keep up with, I found myself happy and rewarded in the end as each one pulses with life, resiliency and authenticity. Thomas writes confidently and always with a clear sense of place. This was truly an eye-opening window into Canada's place in the history of slavery in North America. There are important, frank explorations of race, particularly the different experiences of Canada's different peoples (Black, Indigenous, mixed race).
In the Upper Country is about the power of telling your story and listening to the stories of others. Stories have the power to fill in the gaps, form connections and give our struggles meaning. This novel puts into perspective something that we all take for granted today, which is our ability to document our lives. Especially for those who did not read or write, those who did write down the stories played a critical role: keeping the past alive.
Thank you Penguin Random House Canada for the opportunity to read and review this title.
In the Upper Country by Kai Thomas is a vast, soaring and fascinating work of historical fiction which shows the power of telling your story.
In the late 1800s, Lensinda Marten is living in Dunmore, Ontario, a town where those fleeing enslavement come for freedom and a new start. She is a writer for the local paper, a storyteller by trade. When a white man (and slave hunter) is murdered in town by an older woman (who just arrived in Dunmore), Lensinda is tasked with finding out what really happened from the woman herself. But her interviewee doesn’t just want to tell her story, she wants to trade stories, which opens up truths and realizations for both of the women and their pasts.
While there were many characters to keep up with, I found myself happy and rewarded in the end as each one pulses with life, resiliency and authenticity. Thomas writes confidently and always with a clear sense of place. This was truly an eye-opening window into Canada's place in the history of slavery in North America. There are important, frank explorations of race, particularly the different experiences of Canada's different peoples (Black, Indigenous, mixed race).
In the Upper Country is about the power of telling your story and listening to the stories of others. Stories have the power to fill in the gaps, form connections and give our struggles meaning. This novel puts into perspective something that we all take for granted today, which is our ability to document our lives. Especially for those who did not read or write, those who did write down the stories played a critical role: keeping the past alive.
Thank you Penguin Random House Canada for the opportunity to read and review this title.
March 27, 2023
An old Black woman, an escaped slave now in Canada, kills a slave catcher sent to bring her and her companions back to Kentucky. While she is in a local jail, a young woman learns her story to report the truth in a Black newspaper, rather than the lurid accounts in the White papers. The old woman insists on sharing a story for a story from the journalist. Their tales begin to intertwine and make up one amazing story of Native American and African American people in the U.S. and Canada.
It is a wonderful story, but it gets very confusing in the way it is told - so many characters, a long time frame that gets a bit jumbled up - intentionally, I'm sure, but the end result is confusion for the reader.
It is a wonderful story, but it gets very confusing in the way it is told - so many characters, a long time frame that gets a bit jumbled up - intentionally, I'm sure, but the end result is confusion for the reader.
May 17, 2023
It's been a while since I struggled through a book. I almost put this down so many times. So many, many times. But I pushed through thinking it would pick up. It didn't for me, too many tales to keep track of and it just got unwieldy for me. I couldn't keep up with what story belonged to which character. But I liked the thought of telling history from a Black and Indigenous perspective.
I pressed on, simply because it's on my bookclub list for this year.
I pressed on, simply because it's on my bookclub list for this year.
December 29, 2022
Very interesting topic unlike anything I’ve read before. The writing keeps you intrigued from start to finish. Highly recommend.
December 11, 2023
A great story intertwining the history of Indigenous and Black people in Canada. It was especially great to hear about Amherstburg, Bois Blanc Island, Detroit, Windsor, and Lake Erie and how its history ties into these stories. I loved the structure with its stories told within stories and while I finished reading the book edition, I started it in audio - I highly recommend the audio. It certainly elevated the storytelling structure with excellent narrators. I just unfortunately ran out of time with the audio, so had to switch to the book. A debut and the winner of the Writers' Trust for Fiction. It was also nominated for the Governor General's Literary Awards, but failed to catch the eye of this year's Giller Prize judges. A shame for this would have been a strong contender for the Giller.
September 26, 2023
Had to rush through to return to the library but so glad I finished: Great storytelling- I wish this was the Canadian history they taught in school. Great writing (from an Ottawa author!) and grabs you right from the beginning.
April 15, 2024
Very compelling and important historical time and relationships explored in this story. Unfortunately, I struggled to get into it throughout most of the book.
August 15, 2023
"Freedom, you can't get and bury, and keep it and keep it so it won't ever get away. No, child. You got to swing your freedom like a club." Oh! the importance of tales passed from Grandmother to Granddaughter. Eyes shimmering with fury out of the deep grooved folds in a wrinkled old face as Cash and Lensinda exchange stories. I was hooked hard by this- Thomas explores black and native alliances in slavery era Canada. He explores a seldom considered aspect of black experience, the theft of indigeneity. . ." both peoples had had their relationship to land profoundly interrupted." In so many ways this was a deep dive into the history of race relations in North America. An important read.
May 26, 2024
I wanted to like this more. I found it very confusing to follow the interconnected stories
February 19, 2024
Yay Canadian writers! I picked this up immediately after finishing The Fraud and appreciated the focus on the experiences of enslaved people. The writing style is vastly different - much more straightforward and with a different intent - and I enjoyed it far more and found it a bit easier to follow. Some of the characters’ voices were a bit too learned and literate for who they were, so many of the conversations didn’t quite work for me, and I stumbled over a few awkward words like “trodding." Treading maybe? I also had some difficulty with the changing timelines and narratives but maybe that was just tired me misreading the tough bits. Part of my enjoyment in this book was coming across towns, cities and regions I’m familiar with, and hope that more Canadians pick it up to hear more about this area’s history. **Don't miss the author's note. It's awesome. 3 1/2 stars
September 24, 2023
My actual rating is a 3,5 stars
November 9, 2024
Title:
In the Upper Country
Author: Kai Thomas
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: 4.00
Pub Date: January 10, 2023
T H R E E • W O R D S
Compelling • Intricate • Enlightening
📖 S Y N O P S I S
Young Lensinda Martin is a protegee of a crusading Black journalist in mid-18th century southwestern Ontario, finding a home in a community founded by refugees from the slave-owning states of the American south—whose agents do not always stay on their side of the border.
One night, a neighbouring farmer summons Lensinda after a slave hunter is shot dead on his land by an old woman recently arrived via the Underground Railroad. When the old woman, whose name is Cash, refuses to flee before the authorities arrive, the farmer urges Lensinda to gather testimony from her before Cash is condemned.
But Cash doesn't want to confess. Instead she proposes a barter: a story for a story. And so begins an extraordinary exchange of tales that reveal the interwoven history of Canada and the United States; of Indigenous peoples from a wide swath of what is called North America and of the Black men and women brought here into slavery and their free descendents on both sides of the border.
As Cash's time runs out, Lensinda realizes she knows far less than she believed not only about the complicated tapestry of her nation, but also of her own family history. And it seems that Cash may carry a secret that could shape Lensinda's destiny.
💭 T H O U G H T S
For the past couple of years I have been doing my own personal Book of the Month project, whereby I select one new release title to prioritize each month. In the Upper Country was my January 2023 selection and while it has taken me a lot longer to get to it than I'd hoped, #Historathon2024 felt like the ideal moment to finally pick it up.
Kai Thomas has delivered a refreshing and profound novel, one detailing the Black and Indigenous relationship along the Canada/U.S. border. It's a story of interwoven histories, of land, of love, of survival and of familial upheaval starring two strong, complex at its center. It's the type of story that expanded my knowledge and made me want to learn more. I greatly appreciated the author's note, which details the author's thought process in putting this narrative together and where he took creative liberties.
While the story is compelling, the structure felt disjointed and confusing at times. There definitely needed to be some way in which to identify change of voice and/or timelines in order to help the reader follow along and grasp the entirety of what this story had to offer. There were times when I didn't know whose perspective I was reading from and it would have been easy enough to include some form of simple indicator.
In the Upper Country is packed with historical detail, offers a fictional account of the interwoven stories that have shaped North America, and introduces a new voice in Canadian historical fiction. Kai Thomas is definitely an author I'd read more from in the future and will be keeping an eye on.
📚 R E A D • I F • Y O U • L I K E
• North American historical fiction
• fresh perspectives
• Canadian literature
⚠️ CW: slavery, racism, racial slurs, torture, brutality, hanging, whipping, murder, violence, gun violence, kidnapping, abandonment, death, grief, child death, animal death, animal cruelty, war, colonization, rape, pregnancy, stillborn
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"For in the absence of sense, fear and violence would reign."
Author: Kai Thomas
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: 4.00
Pub Date: January 10, 2023
T H R E E • W O R D S
Compelling • Intricate • Enlightening
📖 S Y N O P S I S
Young Lensinda Martin is a protegee of a crusading Black journalist in mid-18th century southwestern Ontario, finding a home in a community founded by refugees from the slave-owning states of the American south—whose agents do not always stay on their side of the border.
One night, a neighbouring farmer summons Lensinda after a slave hunter is shot dead on his land by an old woman recently arrived via the Underground Railroad. When the old woman, whose name is Cash, refuses to flee before the authorities arrive, the farmer urges Lensinda to gather testimony from her before Cash is condemned.
But Cash doesn't want to confess. Instead she proposes a barter: a story for a story. And so begins an extraordinary exchange of tales that reveal the interwoven history of Canada and the United States; of Indigenous peoples from a wide swath of what is called North America and of the Black men and women brought here into slavery and their free descendents on both sides of the border.
As Cash's time runs out, Lensinda realizes she knows far less than she believed not only about the complicated tapestry of her nation, but also of her own family history. And it seems that Cash may carry a secret that could shape Lensinda's destiny.
💭 T H O U G H T S
For the past couple of years I have been doing my own personal Book of the Month project, whereby I select one new release title to prioritize each month. In the Upper Country was my January 2023 selection and while it has taken me a lot longer to get to it than I'd hoped, #Historathon2024 felt like the ideal moment to finally pick it up.
Kai Thomas has delivered a refreshing and profound novel, one detailing the Black and Indigenous relationship along the Canada/U.S. border. It's a story of interwoven histories, of land, of love, of survival and of familial upheaval starring two strong, complex at its center. It's the type of story that expanded my knowledge and made me want to learn more. I greatly appreciated the author's note, which details the author's thought process in putting this narrative together and where he took creative liberties.
While the story is compelling, the structure felt disjointed and confusing at times. There definitely needed to be some way in which to identify change of voice and/or timelines in order to help the reader follow along and grasp the entirety of what this story had to offer. There were times when I didn't know whose perspective I was reading from and it would have been easy enough to include some form of simple indicator.
In the Upper Country is packed with historical detail, offers a fictional account of the interwoven stories that have shaped North America, and introduces a new voice in Canadian historical fiction. Kai Thomas is definitely an author I'd read more from in the future and will be keeping an eye on.
📚 R E A D • I F • Y O U • L I K E
• North American historical fiction
• fresh perspectives
• Canadian literature
⚠️ CW: slavery, racism, racial slurs, torture, brutality, hanging, whipping, murder, violence, gun violence, kidnapping, abandonment, death, grief, child death, animal death, animal cruelty, war, colonization, rape, pregnancy, stillborn
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"For in the absence of sense, fear and violence would reign."
March 31, 2023
Thank you so much to Penguin Randomhouse for the ARC of this book!
SYNOPSIS: In the Upper Country is written by Canadian author Kai Thomas. The story is set in the 1800s in the fictional town of Dunmore, Ontario, which was a Canadian town settled by people fleeing slavery in the southern United States. In Canada, Lensinda works as a journalist. The story really begins when a slave hunter is found dead, at the hands of this old woman. Lensinda (aka Sinda) attempts to gather the testimony for her before her trial. However, initially unwilling to open up completely, the woman offers a “story for a story,” which is where the the reader gets a riveting interweaving of Indigenous and Black history in North America.
MY THOUGHTS: I really enjoyed the story! While the story is fictionalized, there is a ton of history embedded that was fascinating. While I knew there were communities of formerly enslaved people in Canada, I didn’t know the extent (i.e. that there were towns of completely formerly enslaved people). Dunmore does not exist, but many similar towns did! I thought the way the story was told, as these almost (?) vignettes from the old woman, was a unique way to explore the plot. My one complaint is I felt like there were a lot of characters which made it difficult to fully appreciate and get to know each person. Nonetheless, these stories often weave together which offers an interesting perspective as well.
SYNOPSIS: In the Upper Country is written by Canadian author Kai Thomas. The story is set in the 1800s in the fictional town of Dunmore, Ontario, which was a Canadian town settled by people fleeing slavery in the southern United States. In Canada, Lensinda works as a journalist. The story really begins when a slave hunter is found dead, at the hands of this old woman. Lensinda (aka Sinda) attempts to gather the testimony for her before her trial. However, initially unwilling to open up completely, the woman offers a “story for a story,” which is where the the reader gets a riveting interweaving of Indigenous and Black history in North America.
MY THOUGHTS: I really enjoyed the story! While the story is fictionalized, there is a ton of history embedded that was fascinating. While I knew there were communities of formerly enslaved people in Canada, I didn’t know the extent (i.e. that there were towns of completely formerly enslaved people). Dunmore does not exist, but many similar towns did! I thought the way the story was told, as these almost (?) vignettes from the old woman, was a unique way to explore the plot. My one complaint is I felt like there were a lot of characters which made it difficult to fully appreciate and get to know each person. Nonetheless, these stories often weave together which offers an interesting perspective as well.
June 13, 2024
A work most vital and exciting from beginning to end. This is a story inclusive of many stories, intertwined over generations, in pre-revolutionary USA and both Upper and Lower Canada, stretching over time from the mid 18th to 19th centuries. Our focal point is a small Negro village in swampy Upper Canada, with our narrator a young Black journalist. A slave hunter is killed by an old woman fleeing from bondage in the South. Our main narrator becomes involved and embroiled in the old woman's tales. She discovers more than she anticipated about her past, her history and the intertwining of Black and Indigenous peoples. This book, a multilayered story upon story upon story, demands much direct attention from the reader. It is ultimately rewarding and worthy of a reread after all the images have settled in one's mind. Thomas has a firm grip on the individual voices of his multiple storytellers. His prose is rich. I could not stop reading. If you know your North American history, especially that of Upper and Lower Canada and the American northeast and Great Lakes (Ohio Valley) regions, you will be rewarded greatly. A wonderful example of how research for a novel becomes only the background for a gripping story. I couldn't stop reading. Highly recommend.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 349 reviews