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.
