The Life of Olaudah Equiano is an autobiography in which the author chronicles his journey from slavery to freedom. Kidnapped from his home in Africa as a child, Equiano endures many years of slavery under different masters until he is finally able to buy his freedom in 1766 at the age of 21. One of the first slave narratives, the book is an important historical record that made public the atrocities committed by slave owners and played an important role in the eventual abolitionist movement in England.
The Real Life of Sebastian Knight is the story of the title character's half-brother, the author V., who is implied to in fact to be Sebastian himself. V. struggles over the course of the novel to unravel Sebastian's legacy. He reviews and analyzes Sebastian's books as well as another biography of Sebastian, with which he takes issue. In the end, though, he is able to reconcile his own ideas about Sebastian's aloof and disconnected life with those of the public.