[1] A bildungsroman,[2] the story follows the early life of George Washington "Wash" Black, chronicling his escape from slavery and his subsequent adventures.

No longer under the protection of either Wilde, Wash decides to take Titch's advice and resettles in Shelburne, Nova Scotia.

From the ages of thirteen to sixteen, Wash lives a life of fear, afraid that the bounty on his head will be collected.

Wash works with Goff and Tanna to collect and illustrate marine specimens, and has the novel idea of creating an aquarium.

Edugyan originally wished to write a novel about the Tichborne Claimant trials but changed her focus upon learning about the servant and ex-slave Andrew Bogle.

[4] In October 2021, it was announced that Hulu had given the production a series order to a limited television adaptation of the novel consisting of nine episodes.

It will star Ernest Kingsley Jr. as title character George Washington 'Wash' Black, and Tom Ellis as Christopher 'Titch' Wilde.

The magazine's critical summary reads: "As the Washington Post concludes: "Discover what the rest of the world already knows: Edugyan is a magical writer".

[1][10][11] The New York Times Book Review praised the novel for "complicat[ing] the historical narrative by focusing on one unique and self-led figure.".

[12] The New Yorker praises both the novel's success as historical fiction and at taking on grand themes such as love and freedom, writing "That striving—the delicate, indomitable, and often doomed power of human love—haunts "Washington Black."

It burns in the black sea of history like the jellyfish in the Nova Scotia bay, no more than a collection of wisps in the darkness, but a glory all the same, however much it stings.