Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl Written by Herself

A retelling of the lives of black slaves of the south through the eyes of one born a slave during the pre-civil war years in America. Harriet tells not only her own story, but countless others, and at the time it was written, it fanned the abolitionist fires that started a war.Much of her story exposes not only the cruel and inhuman treatment of slaves in general, but also the sexual predatory ways of men in power- i.e. her own tyrannical master, Doctor Flint. The author loathed her position and when faced with the very real possibility of being forced into a corner of submission, she submitted to another white man- one who possibly could be considered predatory as well, in my eyes, as she was only 15 when their relationship started, but one who did not have control over her. However much she longed to be virtuous- she used the only means available to her in subverting her master and gave herself to the man who showed her nothing but kindness. Soon after, finding herself with child, her humiliation was great- especially when her own grandmother reproached her for her situation. But she had hopes the father of her children would buy her from her tormentor. Of course those hopes were dashed by Mr. Flint, who refused to sell her.Through constant sexual harassment, a quashed rebellion, brutal beatings, repeated failed attempts to get away from her evil master, to tricking him into selling her loved ones to her white lover who gave them their freedom, and hiding in a crawl space in her grandmother's home FOR YEARS, to a flight to the north and eventual freedom for herself-though the tentacles of her past experiences never left her and segregation remained still very real in the North- Linda relates her gritty account, far more clearly than the more famous abolitionist novel of that time, Uncle Tom's Cabin.I have no doubt the tales related are true, for the evil that lurks in the heart of man- crouching and waiting to be released by absolute power over another- is far more wicked than any devil and the joys of freedom all the sweeter after knowing such maliciousness.Never doubt that evil is still lurking and is being released even now. We all would do well to remember that, as ever, "...God judges men by their hearts, not by the color of their skins," and that one day there will be a recompense

The book is engrossing - I found it hard to put down. It offers insights into the lives of so-called "house slaves", those who worked inside houses instead of outside in the fields. Contrary to what some people believe, these people were not treated well, and in many cases horrendously. They were bought and sold like animals, families were separated, even children from their parents. They were beaten cruelly at the whims of masters, even for the most trifling offenses or the slightest hint of insubordination. Nor were they allowed to educate themselves. Women especially suffered physical and moral degradation, subject to coerced sexual submission or outright rape, and to the bearing of the resulting offspring, who then became the property of the slave owners to be sold for profit. Harriet Jacobs' story is indeed sad and depressing, with an upbeat note at the end when she was fortunate and resourceful enough to escape finally from the south with her children. Regrettably, she was one of a small minority - the vast majority of slaves in the south died in their chains. I give the book only four stars because, although I tend to believe the general outline of the story, parts of the book are quite hard to explain. The event eliciting the most doubt was Linda's 7 years of living in a small crawl space in an unheated attic, with no light except for a small peephole, with little air circulation or ventilation, and a leaky roof allowing water to soak her clothes and bed. I do not see how anyone could survive even a year in such a condition - at the very least one's muscles would atrophy and one's health and vision would be dangerously impaired by lack of light. I suspect that there is more to Linda's time in hiding than is being told, perhaps for the protection of her helpers. If indeed her life in the attic was just as narrated, she was truly a remarkable human specimen. Another curious feature is the ability of Ms. Jacobs to write so well with little formal education, and to recall after many years the details of conversations at which she was not present. It seems that her story must have been generously edited and conversations sometimes loosely recreated. Despite minor misgivings, I found the book enlightening and very revealing of the lives of house slaves. There are many books on slavery, but undoubtedly the most instructional are the ones written by the slaves themselves.

This is a mid-nineteenth century first person account of slavery in the American South, and tells the true story of "Linda" (she had to change her name in order to write it) and her long struggle to escape slavery.What is most striking about this book is the fluent writing style; amazing, considering that most slaves were illiterate, and that the writer had to be persuaded to write her account (at the time, it was thought that her testimony would help in the ongoing battle against slavery). The narrative does meander a bit, but that really doesn't matter; what does matter is the appalling system that over-worked, brutally punished and tore apart the families of coloured slaves. They were treated as chattels, to be bought and sold at will, and used (in some cases) worse than animals.There is nothing prurient or too detailed in Linda's story; there doesn't need to be. The reader can fill in the gaps for him/herself. An example, that is referred to obliquely rather than in any detail, is the sexual abuse inflicted on girls when they reached adolescence. The households of many white slave-owners included half-coloured children, fathered by the master of the house but not recognised as his own. Young children were torn from their mothers and sold, causing great heartbreak, and punishments were vicious and frequent in many households. And yet Linda's spirit shines through. Her struggle (which included seven years shut up in a tiny garret to escape her former ownner) is told without self-pity, and with an amazing amount of love for her family and friends, for those white people who did treat her well, and for her God, in whom she ocntinued to have faith until the end.This is an important book, and very readable. It deserves to be more widely known.

Such a good read. We just don’t realise what black people endured during slavery and how courageous they were. A sad story of the life’s of beautiful hearted people. Human beings can be such cruel nasty people and get away with it. Thank goodness there are laws in place now, but I’m sure we still have a long way to go. Linda and her family and friends should be respected and admired.

Linda is a slave with two children also slaves, the children of a slaveholder, she yearns for freedom for herself and her children. After rejecting the sexual interests of her owner Linda after going into hiding for many years pretends to have escaped to the north, it is terrible to see her children growing up but not being able to speak to them for fear of giving away her hiding place. Eventually with the help of friends she does eventually make it to the north and manages to get her children to join her there. Her master though will not give up the chase as he still sees Linda as his property, Linda is constantly forced to flee from town to town with the help of her new found friends to keep one step ahead of her master, with her freedom finally bought Linda is free for the first time in her life, this book is a long very interesting account of what life was like to be a slave during these times, a good read.

It would be a strange person who could claim to have enjoyed reading this book. It portrays the lives of slaves in the Confederate States of the US before the Civil War. To have no "rights of ownersip of anything" to the extent that the master (or mistress), by right of possession could beat you to death or do whatever else he wished with you; even selling your children to others as slaves, is hard to imagine.We must realise that there are people in the world at this present time whose lives are subjected to similar conditions, and given that within the human race there are those whose ambition is to dominate and make slaves of others. we must be ever watchful in defending our right to be free.I must confess that I did not finish this book.

This book helped me to understand fully the creeping horror of slavery by a woman who lived it. What I found telling was the seeming normality of it that "Gone With The Wind" makes so invitingly homely. No woman was safe from rape and their children taken from them willy nilly. Because it was all so normal, violation was inevitable. It reminds me of accounts of recent "grooming" and rape and trafficking of girls in the UK. On the surface, the girls were thought of by social services as "choosing" their abusers and blamed and ignored whilst the horror was really going on.In the slave owning South, the Southern gentleman was noted for his standards of courtesy and gallantry and the ladies, their graciousness. This book lays bare this hollow hypocrisy. The author here makes it clear that the whole system of slave owning corrupts the owners as well as the slaves. Everyone is tainted by the system and the attitudes engendered by it. It gives me great insight into the position of black people in the States even today and helps me to recognise how significant the Civil Rights marches and Martin Luther King were to the community. An illuminating read and an important one.