Sue H. (halloween) reviewed on 1/31/2012

Helpful Score: 5

This is a harrowing autobiography of Harriet Jacobs, an articulate and surreptitiously educated slave. It is emotionally wrenching to read of the abuse, indignities, deprivation, and cruelty - both physical and emotional - Jacobs endured until she was purchased and freed when she was approximately 39 years old. The horror is relieved by the reciprocal love for her grandmother, two children, a brother, and an uncle, which - along with a superhuman will - sustain her through her suffering. Jacobs' life after freedom was eventful and rewarding to her and is detailed on several online sites devoted to her.

Jacobs is the model for "Grace", another slave, in Gertrude Brooks Pulitzer Prize - winning novel, "March." Reading the two books sequentially gives the reader great insight into slavery and the Civil War.

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