Super Short Summary

Middle Passage by Charles R. Johnson, published in 1990 and winner of the National Book Award for fiction, follows Rutherford Calhoun, an ex-slave from Illinois who stows away on the New Orleans-based slave ship Republic to escape debts and an unwanted marriage. Onboard, he discovers the ship is transporting the magical Allmuseri people and a mysterious god-like artifact. Amidst mutiny and supernatural events, Rutherford navigates complex relationships and moral dilemmas, ultimately leading to the ship's destruction and a resolution involving the blackmail of an underworld boss and a marriage arrangement. The book includes themes of slavery and mental illness.