Incomparable World - Softcover

Steven Martin

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0704380587 ISBN 13: 9780704380585

Publisher: Quartet Books Ltd, 1997

Synopsis

In the years just after the American Revolution, London was the unlikely refuge for thousands of black Americans who had fought for the British in exchange for a promise of freedom. Incomparable World is their story, an unconventional debut novel that follows the adventures of three African Americans who have escaped their master's lash only to find themselves outcast once again-but this time on the harsh streets of London's West End. After the British defeat, Buckram, Georgie George, and William Supple sail to London, preferring to attempt a new life there than face possible recapture and a return to slavery. Penniless, without any prospects for employment, and treated as outsiders by British society, they are forced into a life of hustling and petty crime. Their only hope for escape, Georgie George manages to convince them, is an outrageous robbery that would make them rich beyond their wildest dreams. Full of vivid prose and accurate period detail, Incomparable World is a rich historical thriller that reveals a forgotten chapter of American history.

About this title

About the Author

Martin, Journalist-born in Bedford, England

From Kirkus Reviews

A hectic, often compelling first novel set in a decidedly exotic (and violent) world. Martin, a British journalist, wrings considerable drama from a little-studied element of the American Revolution, when blacks, many of them former slaves and some only recently arrived from Africa, were recruited as soldiers by both sides, playing key roles in several campaigns. In departing, the British offered transport to any black man who could prove that he had fought for the King. Even so, England proved little more accepting of the soldiers than America had been, and the result was a large, embattled, and destitute black population in London. Martin focuses on the fates of three ex-soldiers there: Georgie, a mysterious con man who quickly becomes an influential thief; Buckram, an ex-cavalryman reduced to begging; and William, who makes a slender living on the stage. The authors portrait of the grim underside of late 18th-century London is detailed, grisly, and convincing: the whores, hustlers, thieves, and assassins who populate that feculent underworld are all vividly depicted. William, yearning to rescue the wife and children he left behind in New York, and Buckram, hopelessly in love with a young black woman dedicated to fighting for her race, are tough, complex figures. Georgie, however, remains an enigma, and his yearning (to live in a free black city) is never explained. Much of the slender plot has to do with Georgie's shrewd attempt to swindle a loathsome and very wealthy American slaver, which leads to a climax in the US embassy that mixes guffaws and gore. Each of the three men gets something of what hes desired. But it's for the robust portrait of the horrors of slavery in 18th-century America, and of the sufferings of the down-and-out in London, that Martin's narrative lingers. Despite a plot that often leaps when it should walk, and some patches of too-exuberant prose: an impressive debutangry, vigorous, and moving. -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Edition details

• Publisher: Quartet Books Ltd
• Publication date: 1997
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0704380587
• ISBN 13: 9780704380585
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 180