Reading Wednesday
Okay, I'll play. :-)
What I just finished reading
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs
Written in the 1850s and published in 1861, Harriet Jacobs recounts her life as a slave in North Carolina. Though not treated as harshly as many other slaves were, she nonetheless was constantly under fear of rape by her master or having her children sold away from her. She finally escaped, spending seven horrific years in the tiny crawl space attic of her free grandmother's storage shed until she was finally able to secure passage to the North where she was eventually emancipated.
What I'm reading now
Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
After reading Harriet's story, I decided to finally read Uncle Tom's Cabin. I wasn't sure how I'd like this book because I was afraid it would be all overly melodramatic and tear-jerking, but I've been very pleasantly surprised at just how readable this book is. Yes, Stowe preaches a great deal - her audience, after all, were self-proclaimed Christians who were allowing the injustice of slavery to continue. She also was prejudiced believing that the 'negro race' was childlike and inferior to the white race. All that aside, she was also vehemently opposed to slavery, and wanted to open eyes to the abject cruelty of that institution.
What I'm reading next
I'm not sure, but I think after these last two books, I'm going to want something light and frivolous, so probably the next book in the Haunted Bookshop series.
What I just finished reading
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs
Written in the 1850s and published in 1861, Harriet Jacobs recounts her life as a slave in North Carolina. Though not treated as harshly as many other slaves were, she nonetheless was constantly under fear of rape by her master or having her children sold away from her. She finally escaped, spending seven horrific years in the tiny crawl space attic of her free grandmother's storage shed until she was finally able to secure passage to the North where she was eventually emancipated.
What I'm reading now
Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
After reading Harriet's story, I decided to finally read Uncle Tom's Cabin. I wasn't sure how I'd like this book because I was afraid it would be all overly melodramatic and tear-jerking, but I've been very pleasantly surprised at just how readable this book is. Yes, Stowe preaches a great deal - her audience, after all, were self-proclaimed Christians who were allowing the injustice of slavery to continue. She also was prejudiced believing that the 'negro race' was childlike and inferior to the white race. All that aside, she was also vehemently opposed to slavery, and wanted to open eyes to the abject cruelty of that institution.
What I'm reading next
I'm not sure, but I think after these last two books, I'm going to want something light and frivolous, so probably the next book in the Haunted Bookshop series.