Solomon Northup: 12 Years a Slave (2012, Dover Publications, Incorporated)
English language
Published June 19, 2012 by Dover Publications, Incorporated.
Essential reading for anyone looking to understand the experiences of the enslaved in the U.S. south.
One of the few surviving personal accounts of slavery from this time, this was published in the 1850s but almost forgotten and considered fiction until a scholar, Dr Sue Eakin, discovered the book and made it her life's work to verify its authenticity.
Solomon Northup, a free black man from New York, is kidnapped and sold into slavery down south, and it's only with the help of a sympathetic Canadian he meets and convinces to contact friends back in New York for him that he's eventually rescued, but not before 12 years of suffering and separation from wife and children. Obviously a heartbreaking and horrifying story, and a very personal picture of the life of a slave. It's now back in print (obviously) and was made into an Oscar-winning movie in 2013 (which I haven't seen yet but will now look for). The writing style is the very flowery, verbose …
One of the few surviving personal accounts of slavery from this time, this was published in the 1850s but almost forgotten and considered fiction until a scholar, Dr Sue Eakin, discovered the book and made it her life's work to verify its authenticity.
Solomon Northup, a free black man from New York, is kidnapped and sold into slavery down south, and it's only with the help of a sympathetic Canadian he meets and convinces to contact friends back in New York for him that he's eventually rescued, but not before 12 years of suffering and separation from wife and children. Obviously a heartbreaking and horrifying story, and a very personal picture of the life of a slave. It's now back in print (obviously) and was made into an Oscar-winning movie in 2013 (which I haven't seen yet but will now look for). The writing style is the very flowery, verbose style of the time but it's nonetheless hard not to get engrossed in the story.
A horrifying and deeply engrossing account, Solomon Northup's life story is completely unique from the pool of existing slave narratives. In that regard, it's a must-read.
