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Summary: It has given me a bold new incite of Afican Slaves
Review: "Incidents In the Life Of a Slave Girl," has given me a new incite into the lives of African American female slaves, and the institution of slavery it self. I have often neglected to read about the lives that slaves lead during that time period, because I often felt uncomfortable about the subject of slavery. But this book has shown me that my ancestor did what they could with what the had. I recommend this book for all peolple,particularly African American females, because this book gives you an example of what American female slaves had to contend with, along with the strength and courage that they had just to live. Thank You
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Summary: A priceless legacy...
Review: Born in 1813, "Linda Brent" (as Harriet Jacobs renames herself) lived to play the role of nurse - as a free woman - during the Civil War. The long journey that took her there began on the day she realized, as a six-year-old who had just become motherless, that she was a slave.The first mistress she served treated little Linda kindly. When the girl was 12 years old, and her mistress died, Linda and her family hoped the will might leave her free. Instead, it bequeathed her to the dead mistress's 5-year-old niece. This placed Linda under the control of Dr. Flint, her new little mistress's father, and his selfish, cruel wife. The slaves of the Flint household were always hungry, often beaten; and, if female and attractive, quite likely to bear Dr. Flint's offspring. Linda Brent refused to submit to her master's advances. Instead she bore two children to another white man, in hopes her lover might buy and free her - which couldn't happen unless Dr. Flint, on behalf of his daughter, proved willing to sell. But Dr. Flint was anything else but willing to part with his uncooperative property. So began a long battle of wits and wills, one that for Linda had the highest stakes imaginable. This well documented true story of a woman's life as property had trouble finding a publisher in its own era. Even today it's not easy reading. Unflinchingly honest even when she's recounting her own errors and weaknesses, Harriet Jacobs leaves the world a priceless legacy in these memoirs of her battle for freedom. --Reviewed by Nina M. Osier, author of ROUGH RIDER
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Summary: a bit unbelievable
Review: But..... a fairly easy read with a simplistic viewpoint.
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Summary: An American Classic
Review: First published in 1861, this book is much more than a narrative about slavery; it addresses many issues of gender as well. To escape the philandering intentions of her master, and to try to win freedom for her children, Harriet Jacobs spent seven years hidden away in a garret over her grandmother's house, three feet high at its tallest point with almost no air or light, with only glimpses of her children to sustain her courage. Until the 1980's, this book was presumed by most scholars to be a work of fiction created by a white abolitionist, but Jean Yellin's groundbreaking research brought the real Harriet Jacobs to life. The book has been published several times since the 1960's, often in inexpensive paperback versions that are much cheaper than this edition (2000). However, I'd recommend either this edition (which includes the short slave narrative published by Harriet's brother John, A True Tale of Slavery) or an earlier edition edited by Yellin if you want the full historical background on the book itself.
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Summary: Informative and Moving. Authentic Voice
Review: Harriet Jacobs book, like Frederic Douglass Narrative of the Life of a Slave, is a moving and enlightening reading experience that helps us understand the horrors of slavery. Jacobs is a brave woman and she informs us with honest voice of the truth of American history. We need to read such books to truly understand our African American sisters and brothers. These first hand accounts are invaluable personal histories, far more moving than an polemic or dry social studies book. I recommend that all teachers offer such reading to their students far and wide. These are the truths that must be shared for humanity to triumph. Daniela Gioseffi, Professor of Multicultural Literature, Author of ON PREJUDICE: A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE (Anchor/Doubleday, 1993.)
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Summary: A Woman's Life in Slavery
Review: Harriet Jacobs' (1813-1897) "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl" is one of the few accounts of Southern slavery written by a woman. The book was published in 1861 through the efforts of Maria Child, an abolitionist who edited the book and wrote an introduction to it. The book had its origin in a series of letters Jacobs wrote between 1853 and 1861 to her friends in the abolitionist movement, notably a woman named Amy Post. Historically, there was some doubt about the authorship of the book and about the authenticity of the incidents it records. These doubts have largely been put to rest by the discovery of the letters. The book indeed has elements of a disguise and of a novel. Jacobs never uses her real name but calls herself instead "Linda Brent." The other characters in the book are also given pseudonyms. Jacobs tells us in the Preface to the book (signed "Linda Brent") that she changed names in order to protect the privacy of indiduals but that the incidents recounted in the narrative are "no fiction". Jacobs was born in slave rural North Carolina. As a young girl, she learned to read and write, which was highly rare among slaves. At about the age of 11 she was sent to live as a slave to a doctor who also owned a plantation, called "Dr. Flint" in the book. Jacobs book describes well the cruelties of the "Peculiar Institution -- in terms of its beatings, floggings, and burnings, overwork, starvation, and dehumanization. It focuses as well upon the selling and wrenching apart of families that resulted from the commodification of people in the slave system. But Jacobs' book is unique in that it describes first-hand the sexual indignities to which women were subjected in slavery. (Other accounts, such as those of Frederick Douglass, were written by men.) The book is also unusual in that Jacobs does not portray herself entirely as a hero but describes the nature of the steps she took to avoid becoming the sexual slave of Flint. Thus, when Flint subjected her to repeated sexual advances from the time Jacobs reached the age of 16, she tried to avoid him by beginning an affair with a white, single attorney with whom she had two children. When Flint's advances persisted, Jacobs formed the determination to try to secure her freedom. The bulk of the book describes how Jacobs hid precariously in a cramped attic for seven years waiting for the opporunity to secure her freedom. There are also accounts of her prior attempts to leave slavery, including a particularly harrowing account of several days in a place aptly named "Snaky Swamp." Jacobs describes her relationship with her grandmother, a free black woman who was probably the major inspiration of her life. She also describes well her love and concern for her children, conceived through the liasion with the white attorney. This book offers a rare perspective on American slavery as it affected women. It is also a testament, I think, to the value of literacy and knowledge as an instrument for winning and preserving free human life. Although this story is not pretty, it is a testament to human persistence in the face of adversity and to the precious character of human freedom.
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Summary: A Woman's Life in Slavery
Review: Harriet Jacobs' (1813-1897) "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl" is one of the few accounts of Southern slavery written by a woman. The book was published in 1861 through the efforts of Maria Child, an abolitionist who edited the book and wrote an introduction to it. The book had its origin in a series of letters Jacobs wrote between 1853 and 1861 to her friends in the abolitionist movement, notably a woman named Amy Post. Historically, there was some doubt about the authorship of the book and about the authenticity of the incidents it records. These doubts have largely been put to rest by the discovery of the letters. The book indeed has elements of a disguise and of a novel. Jacobs never uses her real name but calls herself instead "Linda Brent." The other characters in the book are also given pseudonyms. Jacobs tells us in the Preface to the book (signed "Linda Brent") that she changed names in order to protect the privacy of indiduals but that the incidents recounted in the narrative are "no fiction". Jacobs was born in slave rural North Carolina. As a young girl, she learned to read and write, which was highly rare among slaves. At about the age of 11 she was sent to live as a slave to a doctor who also owned a plantation, called "Dr. Flint" in the book. Jacobs book describes well the cruelties of the "Peculiar Institution -- in terms of its beatings, floggings, and burnings, overwork, starvation, and dehumanization. It focuses as well upon the selling and wrenching apart of families that resulted from the commodification of people in the slave system. But Jacobs' book is unique in that it describes first-hand the sexual indignities to which women were subjected in slavery. (Other accounts, such as those of Frederick Douglass, were written by men.) The book is also unusual in that Jacobs does not portray herself entirely as a hero but describes the nature of the steps she took to avoid becoming the sexual slave of Flint. Thus, when Flint subjected her to repeated sexual advances from the time Jacobs reached the age of 16, she tried to avoid him by beginning an affair with a white, single attorney with whom she had two children. When Flint's advances persisted, Jacobs formed the determination to try to secure her freedom. The bulk of the book describes how Jacobs hid precariously in a cramped attic for seven years waiting for the opporunity to secure her freedom. There are also accounts of her prior attempts to leave slavery, including a particularly harrowing account of several days in a place aptly named "Snaky Swamp." Jacobs describes her relationship with her grandmother, a free black woman who was probably the major inspiration of her life. She also describes well her love and concern for her children, conceived through the liasion with the white attorney. This book offers a rare perspective on American slavery as it affected women. It is also a testament, I think, to the value of literacy and knowledge as an instrument for winning and preserving free human life. Although this story is not pretty, it is a testament to human persistence in the face of adversity and to the precious character of human freedom.
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Summary: This is a phenomenal story
Review: Harriet Jacobs' tells her story with so much sincerity and intelligence that I was effortlessly drawn into the complicated world of a 19th century mulatto slave woman. Imagine hiding for seven years in a dank dungeon of a room, hoping that this act would procure your children's emancipation. Would you? This is one of the finest autobiographies I have ever read, and I recommend it without qualification.
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Summary: What a Intriging book
Review: I had to read it for school and we had weeks to coplete it, of course I waited till last minute, which usually get me in trouble but this particular book was so eaasy to read. It grabed my attention right away and I couldn't put the dam thing down until I was done!
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Summary: A frustrating story about a slave's 9 year escape to freedom
Review: I had to read this book for school, and I was impressed with some of it. The tone was realistic and believable, and the characters were interesting. But the plot was slow, the book is 200 pages long, and the main character's passive nature makes you want to scream. I don't recommend this book for free reading, but as a slave narrative it meets it's purpose of telling the public about the horrors of slavery. I give it three stars.
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