h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

When I sat down to think of memorable books I've read recently, I found that 'The Underground Railroad' by Colson Whitehead stood out. I found it brutal and harrowing but it is a page turner. It won the Pulitzer Prize and was long listed for the Booker.
The story is set in the 1800s and follows the adventures of Cora, a slave on a plantation in Gorgia, who is persuaded to escape by a fellow slave, Caesar. Cora has been left to fend for herself after her mother, Mabel, apparently made a successful bid for freedom. She finally agrees to leave when a new manager takes over on the plantation . Cora and Caesar are pursued by a ruthless slave- catcher, Ridgway. I was horrified by the descriptions of the punishments meted out to runaway slaves who were recaptured. However, Cora proves brave and resourceful and we will her to succeed in finding freedom.
In the book, the railroad comprises sections of real underground railway, with stations manned by sympathizers. Historically, there was a network of people, white, black and Native American, who helped slaves escape to the north. Whether there were any railroads as such seems doubtful.

I've never heard of any actual railroads being involved in the Underground Railroad, although at least one person travelled by railway on her way to freedom using a disguise. Another fugitive - Henry 'Box' Brown - shipped himself to Philadelphia in a packing crate, so he went by rail, too.

There's a house in a nearby town, a 20-minute drive from here, that was a station on the Underground Railroad. It's a pretty house, with gingerbread decorations. I thought you might be interested to see the house and historical marker, so I've loaded it into a blog:

http://gheorgheniplex.blogspot.com/2017/11/blog-post.html

I'm not standing crooked - the whole town is up-and-down like that.

Thanks for the link. It's a nice house and the sloping street reminds me of Lewes.

Ah, so Sussex has hilly parts, too?

The South Downs are the main Sussex hills, some of the hilly roads get a bit puff and splutter on a three speed bike.

I find the hills are getting hillier these days!

Watch next week's issue of the Post - this NaJo post inspired some digging, and a couple of articles...