The Illegal
A Novel
by Lawrence Hill
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Pub Date Jan 25 2016 | Archive Date Jan 31 2016
Description
Lawrence Hill spellbound readers with Someone Knows My Name (made into the television mini-series, The Book of Negroes), hailed as “transporting” (Entertainment Weekly) and “completely engrossing” (Washington Post). The Illegal is the gripping story of Keita Ali, a refugee—like the many in today’s headlines—compelled to leave his homeland.
All Keita has ever wanted to do is to run. Running means respect and wealth at home. His native Zantoroland, a fictionalized country whose tyrants are eerily familiar, turns out the fastest marathoners on earth. But after his journalist father is killed for his outspoken political views, Keita must flee to the wealthy nation of Freedom State—a country engaged in a crackdown on all undocumented people.
There, Keita becomes a part of the new underground. He learns what it means to live as an illegal: surfacing to earn cash prizes by running local races and assessing whether the people he meets will be kind or turn him in. As the authorities seek to arrest Keita, he strives to elude capture and ransom his sister, who has been kidnapped.
Set in an imagined country bearing a striking resemblance to our own, this tension-filled novel casts its eye on race, human potential, and what it means to belong.
Advance Praise
"Certainly, his characters are authentic, and each is indispensable; readers know the 'blagaybulled'—black, gay, disabled—journalist Viola; the mixed-up yet intelligent John, who is determined to 'be' black; and the desperate Yvette Peters. With a captivating structure that allows the story to converge flawlessly and a rich, imaginative history like that in James McBride's 'Song Yet Sung', this work will appeal to readers of literary and African literature." - Library Journal, Starred review
“Hill has masterfully portrayed the voices lost in our contemporary discussions of immigration. This is a compelling and thought-provoking examination of the challenges any nation faces when we fail to serve as our brother's and sister's keepers across borders, nationality, and race. A must-read.” - Heidi W. Durrow, New York Times best-selling author of The Girl Who Fell From the Sky
"threatens to make readers of this breakneck thriller as out-of-breath as its long-distance-running hero....Hill skillfully injects details throughout of the vicissitudes and travails faced by any person, no matter what color or ethnicity, struggling to escape from strife-ridden, life-threatening conditions in their own countries....The settings may be imaginary, but the perils rendered here are as real as the front-page stories in this morning's newspaper about refugees desperate for safety in Western countries reluctant to welcome them." - Kirkus Reviews
"deeply satisfying story shot through with humor and humanity....Hill threads his story with compelling details on the athleticism of elite runners while also laying out the desperation of illegal immigrants, who are constantly scrounging for food and money while living in fear of being deported. Secondary characters, including a feisty, disabled reporter; an accomplished black policewoman; and a white philanthropist, round out the cast in a timely and affecting story." - Booklist
"[A] taut political thriller ... Hill's intricate, propulsive plot includes corruption, murder, and mayhem, and readers will be rushing to its fulfilling resolution." —Publishers Weekly
“Hill has masterfully portrayed the voices lost in our contemporary discussions of immigration. This is a compelling and thought-provoking examination of the challenges any nation faces when we fail to serve as our brother's and sister's keepers across borders, nationality, and race. A must-read.” - Heidi W. Durrow, New York Times best-selling author of The Girl Who Fell From the Sky
"threatens to make readers of this breakneck thriller as out-of-breath as its long-distance-running hero....Hill skillfully injects details throughout of the vicissitudes and travails faced by any person, no matter what color or ethnicity, struggling to escape from strife-ridden, life-threatening conditions in their own countries....The settings may be imaginary, but the perils rendered here are as real as the front-page stories in this morning's newspaper about refugees desperate for safety in Western countries reluctant to welcome them." - Kirkus Reviews
"deeply satisfying story shot through with humor and humanity....Hill threads his story with compelling details on the athleticism of elite runners while also laying out the desperation of illegal immigrants, who are constantly scrounging for food and money while living in fear of being deported. Secondary characters, including a feisty, disabled reporter; an accomplished black policewoman; and a white philanthropist, round out the cast in a timely and affecting story." - Booklist
"[A] taut political thriller ... Hill's intricate, propulsive plot includes corruption, murder, and mayhem, and readers will be rushing to its fulfilling resolution." —Publishers Weekly
Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9780393070590 |
| PRICE | $26.95 (USD) |
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