When we're first introduced to Esi Edugyan's titular hero, Washington Black, he's an 11-year-old slave on the Faith sugar plantation in Barbados. The "vicious fields of Faith" are all he knows; even the plush interior of the estate's Great House is inconceivable.
Thus, great is his amazement the evening he is summoned to wait at the new master's table. On the death of the old master, the plantation is passed to his nephew, Erasmus Wilde, a sadistic brute of a man, but his younger brother, Christopher, who also arrives at Faith, is a gentler soul. He's obsessed with his designs for his Cloud-cutter, a "wicker-and-wood gondola, its oars stretching like antennae into the sky," borne aloft by a canopy of gas.
A man of science and experimentation, he needs an assistant, and one of a certain weight at that: “Ballast is key,” he explains to Washington the morning after the boy is called to the Great House. Christopher – who tells Washington to call him by his boyhood nickname Titch – plucks our hero from his narrow existence of toil and drudgery, ushering him forth into a “strange second life”. Ostensibly one of previously unimaginable liberty, it also brings with it a different, but no less restrictive, kind of bondage.
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Beginning in 1830, Edugyan’s third novel doesn’t even chart a full decade, but it has the feel of a grand saga. From the tropical, lush heat of Barbados, Washington travels north to the Arctic wastes and a cold one has to experience in order to believe: “It had a colour, a taste – it wrapped itself around one like an unwelcome skin and began, ever so delicately, to squeeze.”
It's here though that Titch abandons him, an act of near unbearable cruelty that shakes Washington to his core. All alone in the world, the 15-year-old makes his way to Nova Scotia in search of the freedom he's been told lies there. All he finds, however, is mud and discontentment; "the free, golden existence once described to me had been used up, crushed, drained to the skin by all who'd come before." Thereafter to London, on to Amsterdam, and then further east to Morocco, Washington is unable to stop searching for Titch.
“My life had been one life before he had taken me up; this he had wrenched off course into a thing of wonder and loneliness and destitution,” he admits in near despair. “My current life, I realised, was constructed around an absence; for all its richness I still felt as if the floors might give way, as if its core were only a covering of leaves, and I would slip through, falling endlessly, never again to get my footing.”
Washington Black is eminently readable. It's a Bildungsroman in the traditional sense, what we might describe as a romping yarn, beautifully and evocatively written, the narrative spinning along at a glorious pace. Saturated with incident and action, despite the sickening descriptions of the barbaric cruelties of plantation life in part one, it owes debts to the likes of Fielding and Dickens, as well as Philip Pullman's Northern Lights and last year's La Belle Sauvage – not that Pullman's books don't deal with terrors and violence of their own, but readers can always take solace in the fact they're roaming the realms of fiction, not one of history's chambers of horrors.
One of the things that’s so clever about this novel is the way Edugyan sets up then dissects the “white saviour” myth. It might make some of us feel better to tell this narrative as a fantasy that salves festering wounds – a young slave’s escape from captivity, by means of a magnificent aerial machine, is aided by a moral, upstanding Englishman who treats his companion like a fellow human being, not an animal in the field – but this would do both Washington and his story an injustice.
Instead, Edugyan steadily reveals a dark messy nexus of power, responsibility, trauma and pain. Relative to his brother’s barbarity, Titch is kind. He and the other abolitionists work hard to end the slave trade, but this doesn’t mean their motives are pure – as Washington comes to realise, they’re “more concerned that slavery would be a moral stain upon white men than by the actual damage it wreaks on black men” – nor are they prepared to comprehend the extent of their own complicity in the system.
Edugyan's genius here, and one of the reasons this book's so deserving of its inclusion on this year's Man Booker Prize longlist, is that she's found a urgent, fresh way of writing the antebellum novel. In the vein of Colson Whitehead's critically acclaimed The Underground Railroad, although not always dealing with fact in the strictest sense of the term, Washington Black's tremendous story resounds with authenticity and truth.
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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Company%20profile
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What is safeguarding?
“Safeguarding, not just in sport, but in all walks of life, is making sure that policies are put in place that make sure your child is safe; when they attend a football club, a tennis club, that there are welfare officers at clubs who are qualified to a standard to make sure your child is safe in that environment,” Derek Bell explains.
ZAYED SUSTAINABILITY PRIZE
THE BIO
Bio Box
Role Model: Sheikh Zayed, God bless his soul
Favorite book: Zayed Biography of the leader
Favorite quote: To be or not to be, that is the question, from William Shakespeare's Hamlet
Favorite food: seafood
Favorite place to travel: Lebanon
Favorite movie: Braveheart
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Sour%20Grapes
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The%20specs
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Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
'The Ice Road'
Director: Jonathan Hensleigh
Stars: Liam Neeson, Amber Midthunder, Laurence Fishburne
2/5
Company%20Profile
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Captain Marvel
Director: Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck
Starring: Brie Larson, Samuel L Jackson, Jude Law, Ben Mendelsohn
4/5 stars
UAE tour of the Netherlands
UAE squad: Rohan Mustafa (captain), Shaiman Anwar, Ghulam Shabber, Mohammed Qasim, Rameez Shahzad, Mohammed Usman, Adnan Mufti, Chirag Suri, Ahmed Raza, Imran Haider, Mohammed Naveed, Amjad Javed, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed
Fixtures and results:
Monday, UAE won by three wickets
Wednesday, 2nd 50-over match
Thursday, 3rd 50-over match
THE CLOWN OF GAZA
Director: Abdulrahman Sabbah
Starring: Alaa Meqdad
Rating: 4/5
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Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20SAMSUNG%20GALAXY%20S23%20ULTRA
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Champions parade (UAE timings)
7pm Gates open
8pm Deansgate stage showing starts
9pm Parade starts at Manchester Cathedral
9.45pm Parade ends at Peter Street
10pm City players on stage
11pm event ends
How Islam's view of posthumous transplant surgery changed
Transplants from the deceased have been carried out in hospitals across the globe for decades, but in some countries in the Middle East, including the UAE, the practise was banned until relatively recently.
Opinion has been divided as to whether organ donations from a deceased person is permissible in Islam.
The body is viewed as sacred, during and after death, thus prohibiting cremation and tattoos.
One school of thought viewed the removal of organs after death as equally impermissible.
That view has largely changed, and among scholars and indeed many in society, to be seen as permissible to save another life.
Essentials
The flights
Emirates, Etihad and Malaysia Airlines all fly direct from the UAE to Kuala Lumpur and on to Penang from about Dh2,300 return, including taxes.
Where to stay
In Kuala Lumpur, Element is a recently opened, futuristic hotel high up in a Norman Foster-designed skyscraper. Rooms cost from Dh400 per night, including taxes. Hotel Stripes, also in KL, is a great value design hotel, with an infinity rooftop pool. Rooms cost from Dh310, including taxes.
In Penang, Ren i Tang is a boutique b&b in what was once an ancient Chinese Medicine Hall in the centre of Little India. Rooms cost from Dh220, including taxes.
23 Love Lane in Penang is a luxury boutique heritage hotel in a converted mansion, with private tropical gardens. Rooms cost from Dh400, including taxes.
In Langkawi, Temple Tree is a unique architectural villa hotel consisting of antique houses from all across Malaysia. Rooms cost from Dh350, including taxes.
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Most sought after workplace benefits in the UAE
- Flexible work arrangements
- Pension support
- Mental well-being assistance
- Insurance coverage for optical, dental, alternative medicine, cancer screening
- Financial well-being incentives
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BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh650,000
How to avoid crypto fraud
- Use unique usernames and passwords while enabling multi-factor authentication.
- Use an offline private key, a physical device that requires manual activation, whenever you access your wallet.
- Avoid suspicious social media ads promoting fraudulent schemes.
- Only invest in crypto projects that you fully understand.
- Critically assess whether a project’s promises or returns seem too good to be true.
- Only use reputable platforms that have a track record of strong regulatory compliance.
- Store funds in hardware wallets as opposed to online exchanges.
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The specs
Engine: 5.0-litre V8
Power: 480hp at 7,250rpm
Torque: 566Nm at 4,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: L/100km
Price: Dh306,495
On sale: now
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