The Secret Diaries of Charles Ignatius Sancho

I adored this book from the first page to the last and missed the ebullient, foppishly theatrical, heartbreaking, and inspiring Sancho when he was gone.

It’s an important story—the true tale of the first black Briton to have the vote—but it’s also a supremely well-told story, following Sancho, via letters and diaries, from his birth on a slave ship through the often dangerous streets of 18th-century England.

Sancho, his contemporaries, and their environment are vividly brought to life. I was particularly delighted by Joseph's language—virtually every line contains an arresting image or a poetic turn of phrase.