Blake or The Huts of America - Book

Blake or The Huts of America: A Tale of the Mississippi Valley, the Southern United States and Cuba by Martin R. Delany, 1859-62

I had some mixed feelings reading this book and at one point I had to set it down for a couple of weeks but at the same time it was a very fascinating reading experience. This novel was written in segments over a period of many years and the first part was originally published in a magazine in 1859 and the second section was published in 1861-62. It was first published as a book in 1970.

This book is like an alternative history, a different universe where there were slave revolts in America and Cuba. I did find the southern dialect of the time of the author sometimes difficult to read. There were many interesting sections where the main character, Blake, travels through the south interviewing potential insurrection leaders among the slaves of various plantations and promotes slave rebellions. The story focuses on the social and political issues of the 1850's institution of slavery in America.

The novel was virtually ignored for about 80 years after it's initial serial publication in a weekly Anglo-African journal. The novel was published in book form until 1970 after the Civil Rights, Black Power, and Pan-African Movements generated scholarly interest in Delany's work. 

The author Martin Robinson Delany (1812-1885) was an African-American abolitionist, journalist, physician, soldier, writer and proponent of black nationalism. Delany was born in Charles Town, Virginia and raised and in Chambersburg and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It would be interesting to read a biography of this historical figure.