Read this when
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
She hid for nearly seven years in a space too small to stand in, just to stay near her kids. Don't tell me mothers aren't built different.
Who it's for
Jacobs writes directly to readers she expects to judge her, explaining choices she made under constant sexual pressure from a man who legally owned her.
Feelings it meets
What it is
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl is an autobiographical narrative by Harriet Jacobs, published in 1861 under the pseudonym Linda Brent and edited by Lydia Maria Child. It describes her enslavement in North Carolina and the persistent sexual harassment she faced as a teenager from her enslaver, Dr. Flint, along with her relationship with a white neighbour, Mr. Sands, the father of her two children.
Where to find it
Public domain in the US (1861, English); free on Project Gutenberg and other public-domain sites. In print (e.g. Penguin Classics, Norton Critical, Harvard's edition ed. Jean Fagan Yellin) and in libr.
Before you start
Heads up: Sexual coercion of a teen girl; slavery.
Age: Ages 16+
I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will,Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre, Chapter 23
