Customer Reviews:
 A personal and intimate view of slavery October 29, 2008
In the words of a born slave, who after a decade-long struggle achieves freedom, written to women of her own time, Linda Brent writes of her life in slavery and her long plight towards freedom.
Her experiences rise from the page and are now grounded in my memory. There are experiences of ruthless masters and mistresses, but also of family and friends, deep trust and helpfulness.
The strength of this autobiography is the author's use of her own words, shaped my time, culture, and the wish to protect certain parties.
I learned from this book, which gives a personal and intimate view at slavery and The United States circa 1860. Recommendable.
Louise.
 Gripping and realistic May 28, 1999
12 out of 12 found this review helpful
I've read this book a few times over the years. The first being for a college course. It stayed with me then as it did each and every time I've read it. I highly recommend this novel as it is so frighteningly realistic and poignant. I have found myself many times recommending this novel to friends and family. It is rich in culture, history and plot. I highly recommend it.
A frustrating story about a slave's 9 year escape to freedom December 3, 1998
7 out of 16 found this review helpful
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.
A Lesson From the Heart September 20, 1998
35 out of 35 found this review helpful
It took me a few days to track down this book, but thankfully, Amazom.Com had it, and was able to send it to me within a few days. I picked it up, expecting to be a long, dry read as most of the fiction (not just slave narratives, mind you) has a tendency to take on such characteristics. Just the style of the period, I suppose.Boy, was I surprised. Harriet Jacobs, writing under a pseudonym, published this book in 1861 after spending many, many years in hiding from her "master," Dr. Charles Flint, a lecherous, sexually-aggressive man determined to break her spirit. Seven years in a cramped, ten-by-seven foot attic crawlspace, however, did little to crush this woman, for she not only managed to escape North Carolina herself, but her children and uncle escaped as well. Her grandmother, freed when she was fifty years old upon the death of her mistress, died during Jacobs' exile in Boston. What I most enjoyed about this text was its style and frankness with the material. Written as a part slave narrative, part journal, and part epistle to the reader, Incidents tells a remarkable tale of the callousness of white men to slaves, who were deemed subhuman and ignorant. Harriet Jacobs demonstrates an enormous capacity for intelligence through her careful, brutally honest memoirs. Although the names of friends, family, and enemies were changed, perhaps to protect the innocent, perhaps to protect the guilty, there is no doubt in my mind that the horrors Jacobs describes occurred, and while my family arrived in America at the early part of this century, I still experienced a great embarassment and shame. Not because I had anything to do with those horrid crimes. No... I feel shame because I know it still continues today, and it saddens my heart to know it will probably continue tomorrow. Rest in peace, Harriet Jacobs.
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