Customer Reviews

Six Women's Slave Narratives (Schomburg Library of Nineteenth-Century Black Women Writers)

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Six Women's Slave Narritives is an absolute must for any historian or seeker of truth. You will cry and shivers will run down your spine as you feel the past rush through you with every turn of the page. This is a compilation of 19th century Black women writers in different situations. Interestingly, the typeface changes slightly throughout the book, imitating the possibility of time travel. Some of the women are educated, and some are simply expressive. The editors notes help clarify confusing issues and questions. If you are studying history, women, black history or slavery, you will be engrossed by this heartrenching and soul-moving collection of personal exposure. Be ready to cry, wince, and change your outlook on life.

An overall good read, however, it was longer than it should have been. This book gave an insightful view of slavery through the eyes of six slaves and the people in their lives. At some points in the book I gasped at the thought of how these women were treated. I was intrigued to continue reading in some spots, but in others I chose to skip over entire paragraphs. I would recommend this book to anyone writing a paper on slaves and the cruelity in which they were treated, and also how slaves percieved themselves in the early 19th century.

If you will read 'The Slave Narratives' you will get to read interviews with over 2500 former slaves who were still living in the mid-thirties, and also their views and feelings about life in the old South. Why limit yourself to just a handpicked 6 stories when there are 2500 out there? Hmmm?