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659 reviews for:
All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley's Sack, a Black Family Keepsake
Tiya Miles
4.12 AVERAGE
659 reviews for:
All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley's Sack, a Black Family Keepsake
Tiya Miles
4.12 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
this was fantastic! I'm impressed by Miles' narrative abilities (Isabel Wilkerson should be taking notes) and I'll definitely read more nonfiction from her. I didn't expect this book to focus so much on women's work and textile history (another interest of mine) but I'm grateful it did!
informative
reflective
medium-paced
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Tiya Miles is such a talented historian. When I first picked up this book, I found myself wondering how someone could possibly fill 400 pages when writing about one specific historical artifact. But through deep genealogical research, environmental knowledge of the American South, supplemental accounts from other narratives from enslaved people, and just a deep dive into the historical record of each item placed in this sack, Miles creates a really beautiful and moving portrait of enslaved women. She acknowledges that there are things that we can't know, because American slavery brutally ripped people away from their families and broke the historical record, but through her writing she gives shapes to Rose and Ashley, a mother and daughter separated by white supremacy.
emotional
informative
reflective
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
This was very interesting and a very worthwhile read. The author takes an artifact--an embroidered sack, passed down through generations from an enslaved woman who gave it to her daughter when she was sold away--and examines it through time. She exhausts the available historical records, which in itself is telling--our scanty historical info on enslaved and newly freed Black people is a disgrace in itself. But then the author poetically adds in so much more--info from lives that were similar in time and place and were recorded, other historical information on slavery, on textiles. It's beautifully done, and emotionally powerful.
I have mixed feelings about this one. The story of Ashely's Sack is important to showcase the overlooked history of enslaved Black women. However, even after extensive research not much is known about it. The first chapters give a detailed account of how the author researched this article. If you have watched Finding Your Roots or Who Do You Think You Are, this will make you fully appreciate how much work goes into presenting those slick one-hour summaries of the guest's heritage.
Since there is little information available about Ashey's family, the author uses biographical information about other enslaved women to fill in the gaps. She also adds much background information about related areas like how slavery came to America, and how the enslaved people were treated on the plantations (what they wore, ate, personal hygiene, etc.). Perhaps the most heartbreaking sections are about how families were torn apart at the whims of their owners.
Since the author had gaps to fill in, many sentences start with qualifiers such as "it was likely", "perhaps", "maybe" or "typically". I listened to the audiobook, so once I noticed the overuse of these phrases, they became distracting.
Also, most likely due to the lack of information, things seemed to be repeated over the over again. While the book does cover a variety of topics that are overlooked by history, the story could have been told in a more concise way.
Since there is little information available about Ashey's family, the author uses biographical information about other enslaved women to fill in the gaps. She also adds much background information about related areas like how slavery came to America, and how the enslaved people were treated on the plantations (what they wore, ate, personal hygiene, etc.). Perhaps the most heartbreaking sections are about how families were torn apart at the whims of their owners.
Since the author had gaps to fill in, many sentences start with qualifiers such as "it was likely", "perhaps", "maybe" or "typically". I listened to the audiobook, so once I noticed the overuse of these phrases, they became distracting.
Also, most likely due to the lack of information, things seemed to be repeated over the over again. While the book does cover a variety of topics that are overlooked by history, the story could have been told in a more concise way.
What a heart breaking historical journey. These are the kinds of books we need: books that tell the truth about America’s history: visceral, raw, and brutally honest. Slavery was so much worse than what we can imagine. My home city, Charleston, will forever carry this shameful, ugly stain.
This book centers on the journey of Ashley’s sack, gifted to her by her mother Rose, on the eve of her sale, sometime in the 1850s—before finding its way to Ruth, who stitched the words on it. The rough, stained cotton sack contained pecans, a dress, hair, and the most important, indestructible thing of all: love. The author goes into detail about the meaning of each item in the sack and why it was so important; she also goes into detail about what life was like for enslaved peoplx.
Everything in this country’s history and be traced back to slavery—even pecan pie. Read this book, share it. If not yet banned, it will be. Do not look away from the truth. Learn it.
This book centers on the journey of Ashley’s sack, gifted to her by her mother Rose, on the eve of her sale, sometime in the 1850s—before finding its way to Ruth, who stitched the words on it. The rough, stained cotton sack contained pecans, a dress, hair, and the most important, indestructible thing of all: love. The author goes into detail about the meaning of each item in the sack and why it was so important; she also goes into detail about what life was like for enslaved peoplx.
Everything in this country’s history and be traced back to slavery—even pecan pie. Read this book, share it. If not yet banned, it will be. Do not look away from the truth. Learn it.
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced