Inceidents In The Life of a Slave Girl by Harriett Jacobs

Book Review by Stephanie Lamp

Harriet Jacobs is a young slave girl explaining her story as a slave. She didn’t set out writing this book for money like most writers. She wrote it to help better our understanding on slave life during that time period. Two women who helped her hide out towards the end of her escape from her plantation convinced her to write this book. She was anxious at first but finally ended up writing this story for us to read.

In this wonderful story, the Author, Harriet Jacobs is explaining her life as a slave girl. She definitely didn’t live an easy life; it was full of hardship, death, and pain. Her story also portrays the great relationship she had with God. Through all the hardship she went through she never turned her back on God. Jacobs is trying to explain to us how she had a horrible life but doesn’t want us to pity her at all. Throughout the whole story she says numerous times how she’s not writing this book for pity she just wants to explain her story so others will know about it. It saddens me that she even has to defend herself about the things she went through just because she is so used to people assuming she is lying so others will feel sorry for her.

She organizes her book very well, for a woman who had no formal education. She starts off her story explaining how she didn’t even know she was a slave until she was six years old, just because of the simple fact that her mother shielded her from it. For the most part she had a good slave life, or as good as a slave’s life could be. Her master kept her inside doing the household duties like; cooking, cleaning, and sewing. She was grateful for not having to work out in the fields, but her master was a horrible man. From there she goes to explain the great adventures she lives through on her journey to freedom.

I chose to read this book not really sure what I was getting myself into. While I was reading it I really enjoyed the story she was telling. I loved getting the opportunity to hear about her life and see how she explained the trials she experienced. I would absolutely recommend this book for anyone interested in this time period to read.

Jacobs does an amazing job of keeping the readers interest though out the book. The way she gives every detail almost makes you feel as if you were experiencing these things right along with her. She lived a very difficult life but also had various pleasant times along with the difficulties. Her children were away from her for the majority of their lives but she still kept in contact with them, and never gave up hope that they would all be together again. Their grandmother also kept their love for her strong, so when they finally saw her again they were not bitter, but instantly loved her. I think by her writing this story, it expands the people’s minds reading it. I know I didn’t know half the things she explained. She tells the absolute truth rather than sugar coating things here and there; she wants the reader to know everything! God guided her through everything she had to go through; sometimes it’s hard to understand why he lets all these things happen to good people but eventually one day we will find out. I think the reason she went through her life as a slave may have been so that she could tell her story to others so we can have a better understanding of how these people lived.