''The African'' is a 1967 novel by Harold Courlander.

Plot

A young African boy, Hwesuhunu, is kidnapped from his homeland by French slave traders, and endures the terrors of the

Middle Passage The Middle Passage was the stage of the Atlantic slave trade in which millions of enslaved Africans were transported to the Americas as part of the triangular slave trade. Ships departed Europe for African markets with manufactured goods (first ...

and being sold into

slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

. Hwesuhunu is brought to the island of

Saint Lucia Saint Lucia ( acf, Sent Lisi, french: Sainte-Lucie) is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. The island was previously called Iouanalao and later Hewanorra, names given by the native Arawaks and Caribs, two Ameri ...

, and is later sold to a Georgia plantation for US$100.

Controversy

The novel became the subject of controversy when it was revealed that author

Alex Haley Alexander Murray Palmer Haley (August 11, 1921 – February 10, 1992) was an American writer and the author of the 1976 book '' Roots: The Saga of an American Family.'' ABC adapted the book as a television miniseries of the same name and ...

had plagiarized sections of ''The African'' for his 1976 novel ''

Roots A root is the part of a plant, generally underground, that anchors the plant body, and absorbs and stores water and nutrients. Root or roots may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''The Root'' (magazine), an online magazine focusing ...

'' which later was made into a 1977 television miniseries, a 1979 sequel miniseries, and a 2016 television miniseries

remake A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the sam ...

. In 1978, Haley paid Harold Courlander and his publisher $650,000 as out-of-court settlement of the lawsuit.Chicago Tribune
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References

English-language novels 1967 American novels Novels set in Africa Novels about American slavery Crown Publishing Group books {{1960s-novel-stub