Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley's Sack, a Black Family Keepsake by Tiya Miles

11 reviews

amalauna's review

challenging emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Trafficking, Violence, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Grief, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual violence, and Slavery

bunceyyy's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body shaming, Classism, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Suicide, Child abuse, Child death, Kidnapping, Racial slurs, Racism, Trafficking, Violence, Death of parent, Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Colonisation

abigailbat's review

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

This is an incredibly powerful story and an amazing work of history. Combining gorgeous prose with meticulous research, the book examines slavery through the lens of a physical artifact, Ashley's sack. Although many would consider the items in Ashley's sack (a tattered dress, some pecans, a lock of hair) to be of little import, Miles takes a deep dive into each, demonstrating their essential importance as symbols of the love a mother has for her daughter. This is a book that celebrates love and an indomitable will to survive. This is a book that has a lot to say about art, particularly forms of art that are not always elevated or have special importance to Black folks. 

I feel that this is an important book for white people, such as myself, to read. It illuminates the particular harshness of slavery in this country, particularly in Charleston and South Carolina. I found it very eye-opening and it's a book that will stick with me for a long, long time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Physical abuse, and Emotional abuse

kerri_m's review

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

Part object study, part social history, Miles masterfully applies historical records and extant evidence to support a constructed look at the potential lives of the three women we see a glimpse of in Ashley's Sack. I think it would capture public interest and academics equally. The book, or at least the introduction and ending essays, should be required reading for every archival student and researcher.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Slavery, Racism, and Sexual violence

book_fish's review against another edition

informative reflective slow-paced

4.0

This book is like a museum talk by a really smart professor. Lot of cool info, but definitely wordy. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Racial slurs, Colonisation, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Rape, and Slavery

willowblack09's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death of parent, Grief, Racism, Sexual assault, Death, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Slavery, Trafficking, Violence, and Classism

sarah984's review against another edition

challenging inspiring reflective slow-paced

4.0

This book uses a single object - a bag given to a daughter by her mother - to illustrate the history of the region, the cruelties of slavery and the resilience of Black women. The writing places the bag and its contents in a historical context and then extrapolates on the history of the women associated through the scant archival record and similar narratives by others. I learned a lot from this.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Slavery, and Trafficking

Moderate: Colonisation, Confinement, Grief, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, Child abuse, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Rape, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Child death, Death, War, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Racial slurs

thebakerbookworm's review against another edition

informative reflective slow-paced

3.0

This was a really interesting deep-dive into a cotton sack embroidered with a few words that tell a family story of loss and love, passed down through generations, lost in time, and rediscovered as a poignant historical artifact.

I went into this expecting a narrative about Rose, an enslaved woman in the 1850s who first gave this sack to her daughter Ashley, and about Ashley, after she was separated by her mother when she was nine years old because of slavery. Instead of a narrative, it read more like a history book, delving into the history of every item in the sack and its significance. While this was interesting and I learned a lot, particularly about clothing, if I had known this beforehand I would not have gone the audio route. I have learned I can't do history books on audio because it puts me to sleep...and this one was no different.

Nevertheless, this one was well researched and very informative; a look at the effects of slavery across generations. I was surprised that there weren't more definitive answers concerning this sack—there is not actually much known about Rose or Ashley, nothing very definitive anyways—but it makes sense actually; the cruelty of slavery means certain things are lost to history.

I read this for my irl book club, and we had a good discussion about it. I'd recommend reading this one with a buddy!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Slavery, and Racism

Moderate: Sexual violence

mandkips's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery and Physical abuse

Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual violence

Minor: Racism and Child abuse

wlreed312's review against another edition

challenging informative slow-paced

5.0

It's hard for me to review nonfiction, but this is a beautifully woven narrative. Janina Edwards is a fantastic narrator, and the book is really wonderful 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Violence, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, and Racism

Moderate: Sexual violence and Sexual assault