Hall's writing cleverly flows between the reality of her research on black women-led slave revolts and speculative ideas that uncover the spectrum of human experience and resilience - John Jennings, Eisner Award-winning illustrator of Octavia Butler's Kindred and Parable of the Sower graphic novelsĪ lot of Black history is uncelebrated narratives, but even within that history there are narratives that are especially overlooked these tend to be the stories of Black women. Rebecca Hall's sparse and perfectly chosen prose intersects with Hugo Martinez's beautiful woodcut-styled illustrations that uses the power of visual narratives that hearkens back to graphic masters like Lynd Ward and Frans Masereel. Not only a riveting tale of Black women's leadership of slave revolts but an equally dramatic story of the engaged scholarship that enabled its discovery - Angela DavisĪn urgent, brilliant work of historical excavation * Kirkus * a superb accomplishment on every level * Popmatters * Hall and Martinez deserve tremendous credit for their work in making this research accessible. Wake is operating in the wake of slavery, and in a state of being awake to the past, a process Hall frames as both devastating and grounding * New York Times Book Review * With its remarkable blend of passion and fact, action and reflection, Wake sets a new standard for illustrating history * NPR * an inspired and inspiring defence of heroic women whose struggles could be fuel for a more just future - Rosemary Bray McNatt * Guardian * Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd ISBN: 9780241523551 Number of pages: 208 Weight: 456 g Dimensions: 240 x 160 x 20 mm MEDIA REVIEWSĪ must-read graphic history. Part graphic novel, part memoir, it is a powerful reminder that while the past is gone, we still live in its wake. Strikingly illustrated in black and white, Wake explores both a personal and a global legacy. Beneath both is Hall's own tale: of a life lived in the shadow of slavery and its consequences. With in-depth archival research and a measured use of historical imagination, she constructs the likely pasts of women rebels who fought for freedom on slave ships bound to America, as well as the stories of women who led slave revolts in Colonial New York. In Wake Rebecca Hall, a historian, a granddaughter of slaves, and a woman haunted by the legacy of slavery, tells their story.

They fought their enslavers throughout the Americas. Women warriors planned and led slave revolts on slave ships during the passage across the Atlantic. 'Not only a riveting tale of Black women's leadership of slave revolts but an equally dramatic story of the engaged scholarship that enabled its discovery' Angela Y. an inspired and inspiring defence of heroic women whose struggles could be fuel for a more just future' Guardian

Wake the hidden history