You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.34 AVERAGE
4.34 AVERAGE
dark
informative
sad
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
fast-paced
as someone who loves Black history this was a great graphic novel. it perfectly illustrated the purposefully created gaps in our history and the challenges that come with trying to piece it together.
the art style matched up perfectly w/the content as well + you feel the care and emotion throughout.
sidebar: because i’m nosy i looked into hall’s family history after reading the acknowledgments 👀 very fascinating and interesting
the art style matched up perfectly w/the content as well + you feel the care and emotion throughout.
sidebar: because i’m nosy i looked into hall’s family history after reading the acknowledgments 👀 very fascinating and interesting
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide, Misogyny, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Kidnapping
dark
emotional
informative
sad
slow-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
I loved this. It's exactly as described and beautifully told.
The artistry brings this to life, and I was enachanted with the beautiful depictions of black bodies. The mirroring settings from now and then brought to life the reality of the period the historical events occurred.
I loved that, rather than leaving a story unknown, Hall gave us a bit of guess-work in a fictional telling of the actions of the nameless women who died backed by historical accounts, the region, and time period.
I cried many times both sad for and proud of these women and their struggle. Truly a wonderful novel.
The artistry brings this to life, and I was enachanted with the beautiful depictions of black bodies. The mirroring settings from now and then brought to life the reality of the period the historical events occurred.
I loved that, rather than leaving a story unknown, Hall gave us a bit of guess-work in a fictional telling of the actions of the nameless women who died backed by historical accounts, the region, and time period.
I cried many times both sad for and proud of these women and their struggle. Truly a wonderful novel.
An extremely successful example of graphic novel format - using images to reflect the wake of the slave trade overlaying the present & an excellent introduction to how accessing these histories is in itself influenced by the same racist power dynamics. It’s also notable for its focus on the emotional impact of researching these archival gaps and suppressions (unsurprising coming from a scholar like Dr. Hall, who was also taught by Donna Haraway)
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Like the title states, Wake: The Hidden History of Women-Led Slave Revolts, focuses on the hidden history of women-led slave revolts. Historical records are a fraught business for historians, but one of the most under researched topics is how enslaved Black women were prone to violent uprising the same as enslaved Black men; it was just in a different way. Decades of mostly white cisgender male perspectives has led to biased interpretations of how Black women fought back against the oppressive weight of enslavement.
The book is framed as Rebecca Hall looking for answers to questions that 9 times out of 10 cannot be answered due to poor record keeping and/or general disinterest in how an event concluded based on a Black woman or women being involved. She provides a few stories interspersed throughout that are fabricated around the small bits of knowledge she is able to accrue and by using information about that time period that is already factually confirmed by other records, narratives, or accounts.
The nature of the topic means that there really is not a lot to go on so most of it centers around Hall and her experiences pursuing the records. She is often frustrated or resigned by the magnitude of the cruelty she must read though to build her work. I love straightforward, pragmatic prose normally because I find the frankness hard-hitting. That said, it did not work for me here because it felt like it was trying too hard to be evocative. I believe that Rebecca Hall was sharing her true feelings, but it tended towards the melodramatic on occasion for me.
When she would get upset at certain notes or letters I was unmoved because I was expecting it and she did not include anything I did not already anticipate as a feature of slavery. A teenager dying on the journey from Africa to America is sad, yes, however, it is the least of all things that could happen. I am a bit desensitized to slave narratives because of the amount of stories I have consumed at this point in my life so your mileage may vary in this regard.
I thought a series of fictionalized accounts of the stories she could find or one single fictionalized narrative would have made for a more interesting book. I did not much care for the framing device of her searching for the truth.
I did not like the art style as it often made it difficult to understand perspective, who people were or what was happening in a sequence. I think if it were in color it would have been easier to make out - the crosshatching was too heavy.
It's a good introduction to the concept. I do think it sparks a necessary conversation about how history is shaped by a variety of factors, least of all the 'objective' truth. I did feel educated somewhat by the end. I am currently reading Brooding Over Bloody Revenge (as of 12/25/23) and it is a much more thorough, in-depth exploration (as much as there can be when availability is so scarce compared to other matters of historical relevance) if that's something you're interested in.
The book is framed as Rebecca Hall looking for answers to questions that 9 times out of 10 cannot be answered due to poor record keeping and/or general disinterest in how an event concluded based on a Black woman or women being involved. She provides a few stories interspersed throughout that are fabricated around the small bits of knowledge she is able to accrue and by using information about that time period that is already factually confirmed by other records, narratives, or accounts.
The nature of the topic means that there really is not a lot to go on so most of it centers around Hall and her experiences pursuing the records. She is often frustrated or resigned by the magnitude of the cruelty she must read though to build her work. I love straightforward, pragmatic prose normally because I find the frankness hard-hitting. That said, it did not work for me here because it felt like it was trying too hard to be evocative. I believe that Rebecca Hall was sharing her true feelings, but it tended towards the melodramatic on occasion for me.
When she would get upset at certain notes or letters I was unmoved because I was expecting it and she did not include anything I did not already anticipate as a feature of slavery. A teenager dying on the journey from Africa to America is sad, yes, however, it is the least of all things that could happen. I am a bit desensitized to slave narratives because of the amount of stories I have consumed at this point in my life so your mileage may vary in this regard.
I thought a series of fictionalized accounts of the stories she could find or one single fictionalized narrative would have made for a more interesting book. I did not much care for the framing device of her searching for the truth.
I did not like the art style as it often made it difficult to understand perspective, who people were or what was happening in a sequence. I think if it were in color it would have been easier to make out - the crosshatching was too heavy.
It's a good introduction to the concept. I do think it sparks a necessary conversation about how history is shaped by a variety of factors, least of all the 'objective' truth. I did feel educated somewhat by the end. I am currently reading Brooding Over Bloody Revenge (as of 12/25/23) and it is a much more thorough, in-depth exploration (as much as there can be when availability is so scarce compared to other matters of historical relevance) if that's something you're interested in.
Warning: reading this book opens you to the hauntings of history.
All of the past is still right here. It echoes in the waters of the ocean, hides in the reflections of puddles, moves right outside the edge of your vision. It's trauma, yes. But also, wrapped inside that trauma is the sustaining power of the ones who fought.
Dr. Hall has devoted her life to history so deep it feels like excavation. She's scraping through mountains of forgotten documents, pushing against the tide of institutional disapproval, to piece together the smallest shards of remaining information. Sometimes all she has is the unspoken, the gaps and absences left by lives that were considered impossible: the women who organized and fought against the people enslaving them.
While I read this book, the world morphed around me. Everything felt more tender, more terrible, and strangely more hopeful than before.
Wake is at once a compelling can't-put-it-down story, a gorgeous piece of art, and a sophisticated historical work. Dr. Hall completely shatters all the myths I was taught about slavery: that it was mostly a southern problem, mostly a rural agricultural industry. She even wades into that old battle, where conservatives claim that Africans 'enslaved themselves' and liberals pitch Africans as helpless victims to white dominance. Hall's explanation is clear, complex, and infinitely more compelling than those old tired narratives.
Dr. Hall's book taught me that every slave revolt was successful. No matter how they ended, every revolt made the system of chattel slavery more expensive, more tenuous, and the work of enslaving others more difficult. This book feels like an offering, a long-delayed act of gratitude to honor the ones who gave their lives in those revolts.
I'm so grateful for the hours and hours Dr. Hall spent in the archives, uncovering these lives. I'm grateful for Hugo Martinez for bringing them to life with this stunning art. This is the living, accessible history we need. Highly recommended to all.
All of the past is still right here. It echoes in the waters of the ocean, hides in the reflections of puddles, moves right outside the edge of your vision. It's trauma, yes. But also, wrapped inside that trauma is the sustaining power of the ones who fought.
Dr. Hall has devoted her life to history so deep it feels like excavation. She's scraping through mountains of forgotten documents, pushing against the tide of institutional disapproval, to piece together the smallest shards of remaining information. Sometimes all she has is the unspoken, the gaps and absences left by lives that were considered impossible: the women who organized and fought against the people enslaving them.
While I read this book, the world morphed around me. Everything felt more tender, more terrible, and strangely more hopeful than before.
Wake is at once a compelling can't-put-it-down story, a gorgeous piece of art, and a sophisticated historical work. Dr. Hall completely shatters all the myths I was taught about slavery: that it was mostly a southern problem, mostly a rural agricultural industry. She even wades into that old battle, where conservatives claim that Africans 'enslaved themselves' and liberals pitch Africans as helpless victims to white dominance. Hall's explanation is clear, complex, and infinitely more compelling than those old tired narratives.
Dr. Hall's book taught me that every slave revolt was successful. No matter how they ended, every revolt made the system of chattel slavery more expensive, more tenuous, and the work of enslaving others more difficult. This book feels like an offering, a long-delayed act of gratitude to honor the ones who gave their lives in those revolts.
I'm so grateful for the hours and hours Dr. Hall spent in the archives, uncovering these lives. I'm grateful for Hugo Martinez for bringing them to life with this stunning art. This is the living, accessible history we need. Highly recommended to all.