Charles Ignatius Sancho was an actual person and the actor Paterson Joseph chose to write about him in his first foray into novel writing. It’s quite an enjoyable read although I found the mid section which is epistolary to be less than gripping although necessary I suppose.
Sancho was born into slavery on a slave ship and this book is in part made from his diary entries which he’s relating to his surviving son William.
Sancho arrives in London at the age of three and is sent to live in a household of three maiden sisters, treated as a cute toy to dress up really. But as he grew the sisters were against him being educated and he had to secretly teach himself to read. Walking around London was dangerous but more so for a black boy and Sill an evil slave catcher seemed always to be on the lookout for him. A narrow escape from Sill led to Sancho making a very useful friend and ally, the second Duke of Montagu, who taught him to read and encouraged his interest in literature and music. Sancho became the first black man in Britain to have the vote and he composed music. but his life had ups and downs – as they do.
This is well written and I enjoyed it. I had never heard of Charles Ignatius Sancho before so when I began reading this book I didn’t realise that he wasn’t fictional, however I do know of a descendant of one of the other characters who lived close to where I used to live, so when his ancestor was mentioned I realised that the author had done his research.
I’ve seen Paterson Joseph act in a few things now and he’s a talented actor too.
My thanks to the publisher who gave me the opportunity to read this book via NetGalley.
That is a lovely cover. The cover that is available in the US is nice but not as nice as this one.
The story sounds interesting. Do you think it sticks fairly closely to his real life?
tracybham,
As far as I can tell it is close to what actually happened to him. Him getting the vote because he owned a business is true, I’m sure that at this point even women who owned property could vote.
I have this one to read too. I’m looking forward to it.
Sandra,
I think you’ll like it.
Sounds interesting. There are no dates given, but I assume he wasn’t a slave in Britain, as even slaves belonging to foreigners in Britain became illegal in 1772.
Michelle Ann,
Sadly it didn’t work like that and people brought their slaves into Britain and although slavery was illegal the slaves couldn’t just leave. I read a book called Joseph Knight which is based on a true case, you can read my review of it in the link. He had to go to court with help from miners in Scotland, if I’m recalling correctly. But this book (The Secret Diaries) is set before the abolition of slavery in the UK. Thanks for dropping by and taking the time to comment.
https://piningforthewest.co.uk/2020/05/13/joseph-knight-by-james-robertson/
Somehow I missed this review when it was new but now I am very eager to find it.
And you noticed reading it that walking around London was dangerous for him, making the carefree (for the most part) sleuthing of his daughter and Dido Belle throughout London even more problematic. The girls sometimes get carriage rides but I think the author was so busy trying to appeal to modern girls that she didn’t care about historical accuracy. By the time I was 10 I am sure I would have noticed these things.
Constance,
The author is a good actor too.