2023 HWA Debut Crown Award
2023 Jhalak Prize (nominee)
It’s finally time for Charles Ignatius Sancho to tell his story, one that begins on a slave ship in the Atlantic and ends at the very center of London life. . . . A lush and immersive tale of adventure, artistry, romance, and freedom set in eighteenth-century England and based on a true story
It’s 1746 and Georgian London is not a safe place for a young Black man. Charles Ignatius Sancho must dodge slave catchers and worse, and his main ally—a kindly duke who taught him to write—is dying. Sancho is desperate and utterly alone. So how does the same Charles Ignatius Sancho meet the king, write and play highly acclaimed music, become the first Black person to vote in Britain, and lead the fight to end slavery? Through every moment of this rich, exuberant tale, Sancho forges ahead to see how much he can achieve in one short life: “I had little right to live, born on a slave ship where my parents both died. But I survived, and indeed, you might say I did more.”
Genre: Historical
It’s 1746 and Georgian London is not a safe place for a young Black man. Charles Ignatius Sancho must dodge slave catchers and worse, and his main ally—a kindly duke who taught him to write—is dying. Sancho is desperate and utterly alone. So how does the same Charles Ignatius Sancho meet the king, write and play highly acclaimed music, become the first Black person to vote in Britain, and lead the fight to end slavery? Through every moment of this rich, exuberant tale, Sancho forges ahead to see how much he can achieve in one short life: “I had little right to live, born on a slave ship where my parents both died. But I survived, and indeed, you might say I did more.”
Genre: Historical
Praise for this book
"Phenomenal! Highly recommended." - Malorie Blackman
"An absolutely thrilling, throat-catching wonder of a historical novel. In The Secret Diaries of Charles Ignatius Sancho, Paterson has given us a character for the ages. It's hard to overpraise this achievement. You might read it for its evocation of an age or for its depiction of the cultures, attitudes, and race all colliding in 'Enlightenment' England, but whatever you bring to the book, the book will bring to you adventure, romance, and the full flowering of a magnificent literary hero, all told in wonderful prose and with dazzling energy and brilliant panache. Never woke, but always awake. Hugely recommended." - Stephen Fry
"Elegant, moving and vital. What Paterson Joseph does - what every writer of historical fiction yearns to do - is make history fall away so that in every moment we are immersed in a lived life. A stunning debut." - Jess Kidd
"An absolute masterpiece of a debut . . . historical fiction at its best!" - Susan Stokes-Chapman
"An absolutely thrilling, throat-catching wonder of a historical novel. In The Secret Diaries of Charles Ignatius Sancho, Paterson has given us a character for the ages. It's hard to overpraise this achievement. You might read it for its evocation of an age or for its depiction of the cultures, attitudes, and race all colliding in 'Enlightenment' England, but whatever you bring to the book, the book will bring to you adventure, romance, and the full flowering of a magnificent literary hero, all told in wonderful prose and with dazzling energy and brilliant panache. Never woke, but always awake. Hugely recommended." - Stephen Fry
"Elegant, moving and vital. What Paterson Joseph does - what every writer of historical fiction yearns to do - is make history fall away so that in every moment we are immersed in a lived life. A stunning debut." - Jess Kidd
"An absolute masterpiece of a debut . . . historical fiction at its best!" - Susan Stokes-Chapman
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Used availability for Paterson Joseph's The Secret Diaries of Charles Ignatius Sancho