Although the framing narrative of Anthony Burns covers only a period of nine days during May and June of 1854, Hamilton uses flashbacks and flashforwards to describe events from 1839 to Burns's death in 1862. This shifting of time and place is the book's most effective literary device. Even as Burns's memories carry the reader back through his life, the reader remains aware that Burns is sitting in his cell, or in the courtroom. By structuring the book around the courtroom scenes, Hamilton intensifies their dramatic effect; by flashing back to Burns's lively recollections of his past, she relieves the tension and dryness of the courtroom drama.

Hamilton skillfully creates dialect that is authentic but not condescending; particularly effective is her alternation between the formal legal language used in the courtroom scenes and the more colorful language used by the slaves and slave owners. Expressions and words that might...