The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation: The Pox Party by M.T. Ander
If you know nothing or almost nothing about this book, I suggest you read it in that state. All you should know prior to reading it is that it’s historical fiction about the years leading up to the American Revolution, and that it’s a critique of those events centered around philosophy and science, and it’s richly written in a style strongly reminiscent of that period, but without being difficult for the modern reader to read.
I went into the book aware-mostly through fandom osmosis-that Octavian was a slave, and not the royalty that he believed himself to be. I loved his slowly growing awareness-even when it had to almost literally be kicked into his head by Pro Bono-of what he was until he irrevocably learned the truth when he tried to defend his mother, and then learned that his entire life was an attempt to prove that his race was, by it’s very nature, inferior to white men.
And I loved his mother, and her anger at how their owners were trying to take her religion and its songs and make them their own, while also trying to force her to adopt their own. I was also fascinated by her relationship with Octavian, despite (because of?) it’s near-Oedipal nature.
I like how, after her death, we increasingly “lose” Octavian (just like he loses his own sense of self?) until we only see him through the eyes of the white men he meets, and when we return to Octavian, one of the first things he does is lambast the soldier for only trying to help him, but ignoring all the other slaves.
And, of course, there’s the look at the Revolution through the eyes of one who actually doesn’t benefit from it, but who will still be a slave, and who is told to his face that his freedom, the freedom of those like him (though, in truth, there’s really no one like Octavian) would be a terrible thing. I spent most of the book thinking that the mask he’s wearing on the cover was either symbolic of his upbringing, or something he wore willingly, so the scene where we learn that it’s actually a mask used to silence slaves was like a punch in the gut.
All that said, the whole time, something felt a bit “off” to me, and I could never quite pinpoint what it was. I found the book absolutely fascinating, but somehow, I don’t think I liked it quite as much as I wanted to, or was supposed to.