Lawrence Hill

   The first book I read that was written by Lawrence Hill was "The Book of Negroes".  It was the book chosen for "One Book, One Community" in 2009.  I loved it!  It also won Canada Reads that year.  It is a marvellous book.
  Then I read "The Illegal" which is also written by Lawrence Hill and was also chosen for Canada Reads in 2016.  You can read my disappointment in that book here.
   And now "Any Known Blood" is our book club choice and it is another disappointment for me.  There is much to admire in this book - lots of history of the blacks, especially in Oakville, Ontario.  And interesting characters- an important ingredient.  But the method of storytelling is not easy to follow..
   The novel covers five generations of "Langston Canes".  If only he had written the book chronologically!  I would have loved it.  But he moved back and forth between the generations and characters through the whole book, making it quite confusing.  And the book could have been edited.  It did not need to be 512 pages.