In the 19th century, American slaves escaped to freedom using a network of secret routes and safe houses known as the Underground Railroad.
In his new novel, "The Underground Railroad" (Doubleday/2016), Colson Whitehead creates a literal network of underground tracks and trains for an enslaved woman to escape life on a Georgia plantation.
Host Frank Stasio talks with Whitehead about his depiction of the Underground Railroad and organizing America's history of racism into a storyline. Whitehead reads at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 22 at theDurham Armory. The event is sponsored by the Regulator Bookshop in Durham.