Underground Airlines by Ben H. Winters is an alternative history novel set in an America where slavery never died. It only exists in four states (including a merged Carolina), but in those states it shows no signs of ever ending.
The protagonist in the story is an ex-slave working undercover for the U.S. Marshal’s Service. He has had many names, but for my purposes, I’ll call him Victor. The Fugitive Slave Law, or a new version of it, is still in effect, and Victor helps find escaped slaves. To do this, he uses various guises to try and infiltrate the Underground Airlines (not the railroad, as in our history.)
At the beginning of the book, Victor is looking for a man with the slave name of Jackdaw. But there is something different about this case, and for the first time, Victor starts to really question what he is doing and has to decide if he should turn on his employers and risk getting sent back into slavery himself.
Underground Airlines is a very interesting analysis of slavery as it would be in modern times. Slaves are not at old-time plantations, but in factories and meat processing plants. Up North, blacks have gained some rights (for instance, employment in law enforcement), but are still segregated. Abolitionists exist throughout the U.S., but there is a constitutional amendment in place that forbids the federal government from abolishing slavery in the remaining four states.
I personally like books that educate as well as entertain, which this one certainly does. Particularly in today’s America, it highlights race relations so the reader can view them from a different perspective. But it is also a detective story, where Victor tries to determine what is different about Jackdaw; and a morality tale, where Victor must decide what to do in a tricky situation.
If Underground Airlines doesn’t get you on one level, it will get you on another. Read it.