Cora's life as a slave on the Randall plantation has been harsh and traumatic. Not only has she been worked to the bone, but while still young her mother Mabel escaped without Cora, leaving her alone to fend for herself. This abandonment by her mother only a part of the loss she endures as she grows and eventually comes to know Caesar, a fellow slave. When Caesar tells Cora what he knows of the Underground Railroad, she has to decide if the risk of being caught is worth the possible reward of freedom.
Freedom - the core of Cora's longing. And what Cora soon learns about the Underground Railroad is that it truly is that: a railroad with cars, transporting escapees under the earth throughout the United States, trying to help people find their final destination. Each station will show Cora even more of the human experience as each different location has its own brand of human depravity. Cora's own heart-strength will be her greatest asset as she make her way to Freedom.
This is hard to read. I know it's supposed to be. I liked the railroad being a REAL railroad, as a plot devise. Before I'd read the book I'd imagined it to be magical realism somehow, this train - but it's just a train and that made it even more interesting. I liked figuring out each new "world" as Cora made her odyssey, even if there is just always so much horror. I wanted to understand Cora a little better, I wanted to dig into her attachments and emotional life more than we did but even with all the hard - this was a book I'm glad I finally tried.
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