"Washington Black came out of a strange confluence of interests—a fascination with a Victorian-era criminal trial centering around the disappearance and supposed resurrection of the wealthy scion Roger Tichborne; an interest in 19th-century scientific conventions, especially the cataloguing and depiction of marine creatures; the realities of plantation life in Barbados; the classic bildungsroman journey from innocence to experience. The research could have gone on forever..."
"It was one of those rare islands that was not settled until 500 odd years ago," Dr. Harris says. "That is to say, 100,000 years after we left Africa as a human species, it took until 500 years ago for Bermuda and other places to be settled by people. So, its geography has been very important to the development of its culture."},{