Black History Book Review: Walk Through Darkness

The story of a fugitive slave and bounty hunter is one of betrayal and trust—and the deepest of all emotions, the love a parent has for a child

As a writer of non-fiction with a special interest in history, I’ve always believed that truth is stranger, and much more compelling, than fiction.  Then along comes Walk through Darkness to prove me wrong.

The novel by David Anthony Durham about a fugitive slave’s journey and a Scotsman’s drive to capture him has all the grit and pathos of a real-life slave narrative.  Their paths are inextricably woven as one man searches for his pregnant wife and the other some semblance of goodness. 

The journey of William, a runaway slave, and Morrison, an immigrant bounty hunter who’s made a life of killing, stretches from tidewater Maryland to Philadelphia, with its labyrinth of docks and piers, warehouses and factories.  Their stories, told in alternating chapters, converge in a thrilling climax that sheds light on a multitude of secrets.

The novel’s rich detail and deep insights into antebellum America are the result of rigorous historical research.  The author acknowledges one book of non-fiction, more than any other, inspired his work:  Runaway Slaves: Rebels on the Plantation, by John Hope Franklin and Loren Schweninger.  Runaway Slaves, winner of the 2000 Lincoln Prize, is filled with personal accounts of escaped slaves gleaned from thousands of court records, runaway slave notices and correspondence among plantation owners.

Drawing on these archival materials and his own sensibilities, Durham’s fictional narrative reveals a story of betrayal and trust, and the deepest of all emotions, the love a parent has for a child.

Still, the tale is not for the faint of heart.  Its brutal description of a murderous slave rebellion, torturous beating inside a jail cell, and rape of a woman held in bondage are far more real than anything you’ll ever find in Huckleberry Finn or Uncle Tom’s Cabin.  Yet, like all good literature, Walk through Darkness is filled with hauntingly beautiful passages, like this one in which William recalls his mother, who was “like no other.”

She admitted to him – as she might to an adult—that it was hard mothering a slave, loving a child that someone else called his property.  Some mothers tried not to love too deeply, not to connect to that which was not theirs.  Some mothers tried to deal with being chattel by becoming chattel.  She said other slaves might have forgotten that they were human beings and might have accepted their roles as beast of burden, but she never would, and her son had better not either.  They were much better than that.  There was no shame on them.  The shame was on the world of men for blurring the truth, and one day they would all pay for it.

Walk through Darkness marches to its inevitable but surprising conclusion through many twists and turns, leaving the reader with both a sense of awe and some unfinished business.

It’s the same kind of feeling that comes over you, when, after a good, long hike in an unfamiliar place carrying too much gear and not enough water, you miraculously find yourself atop a spectacular overlook about a half-mile from heaven.  

Then, looking across a wide expanse or deep ravine, you suddenly realize, there’s still such a long way to go.

David Anthony Durham is also the author of Gabriel's Story, Pride of Carthage (starred review from Publishers Weekly), and Acacia: A Novel, scheduled for release in June 2007.

Lisa Gensheimer and her husband Rich are the producers of “Safe Harbor: A Story of the Underground Railroad” distributed nationally on public television. This review originally appeared in the Erie Times News and is shared here with permission.