Have you ever thought about all of the chapters that your history textbooks never covered? Canadian novelist Esi Edugyan has, and she's made a career out of it.

Edugyan's first novel, The Secret Life of Samuel Tyne, was set in Alberta in the '60s. Her second, the Giller Prize-winning book Half Blood Blues tells the story of an interracial jazz band in Europe in the '30s and '40s, and her latest novel, Washington Black — which was nominated for the Man Booker Prize before it was even published — goes even deeper into the past.

Washington Black tells the story of an 11-year-old slave named George Washington Black. His life is irrevocably changed after he becomes a manservant for the brother of his plantation boss, and some hidden talents come to light.

Edugyan​ talked to Tom Power about journeying into the past and what she wanted to say about one of history's greatest injustices. Washington Black, is out now.

— Produced by Ben Edwards