Twelve Years a Slave (some thoughts).

[fjm]

As by the time I joined LJ I was no longer teaching American history, most of you probably don't know that I taught African American history (17th through the end of the 20th century) for almost a decade. My specialist period was 1880 to 1950 (the civil rights era everyone has forgotten) but I studied US and Carribbean slavery as an undergrad and

Comments

[nancylebov]

Sidetrack about a book: Have you read _Jubilee_?

[fjm]

By?

[nancylebov]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jubilee_(novel)

Margaret Walker-- based on the life of the author's grandmother, who'd been a slave.

[fjm]

I haven't and will look it up.

[nancylebov]

The reason I brought it up is that it has more work in it than any other novel I can think of. Also a huge amount of research-- clothes, food, medicine, agriculture, economics, etc., while still being a best seller.

Depressing about being a woman, though. I found myself thinking "Mary, pity women", and I'm not Catholic.