Lalibela's Wise Man

I received this book by the author in exchange for a review, however, this will not affect what I think about it. 

Matshona Dhliwayo's Lalibela's Wise Man is a short novella about a man named Christian who recently lost his father. He was shocked to find he inherited nothing of his father's very successful business considering his father constantly let him know he was his favoured from his two other half brothers. However, he finds that he was left a small note directing him to a wise man somewhere in a Ethiopian monastery on top of a mountain. Christian ends up going with whatever money he has left, since his brothers' have disowned him. He stays there for a week, living the humble life of monks, learning valuable life lessons and discovering truths about his family and where he comes from.

The book comes off as a self-help book, offering very valuable life lessons and advice. Because of this, any reader of any faith and belief may find something of use in this very short narrative. A lesson learnt every chapter. It teaches having the right attitude and treating people the right way.

The Underground Railroad

Colson Whitehead's The Underground Railroad is the story of Cora and her escape to freedom from the cruel bondage of slavery in America. It is written in the third person POV, following Cora, Caesar, the slavecatcher Ridgeway and a number of other characters.

Cora lives on a cotton plantation somewhere in the middle of Georgia. She was born there and both her mother and grandmother have lived there. So it is all she has known. Even though she is outcasted from society--especially after the death of her grandmother and after her mother escapes--, she is still marginalised in the black community, where she was kicked out of the cabin she lived in with her grandmother and other women on the plantation. She was sent to live with women who were sort of abolished, since the black people on the plantation can't really fire anyone technically. A new addition to the black slaves is Caesar, who comes off as a tough man with no time to waste. He has tasted the comfort of the illusion of freedom and wants more. He talks Cora into escaping from the plantation to New York.
Various narratives are embossed in every chapter, depicting the horror black people have lived through during those times.
It is shocking, heartbreaking and gut wrenching. Easily a page turner, keeping the reader on edge throughout. The prose is just excellent and lives up to its strong concept.

However, I don't think there is any character development for anyone, especially Cora. The secondary characters were not developed at all, and sometimes I thought "okay, this one is mentioned just to fill a gap". The underground railroad itself is very interesting and you can tell how much research Whitehead has done, but it isn't represented enough in the book.

A fantastically horrific book to read and a must for everyone!