A review by joyce_ti
Wake: The Hidden History of Women-Led Slave Revolts by Rebecca Hall

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad fast-paced

4.5

 This Graphic novel tells the story of slave revolts that were planned and led by enslaved women. It is the story of how they fought their enslavers and how they were erased from history. 

This was an incredible read. The combination of Hall’s writing and Martínez’ illustrations results in an informative and very emotional novel which invites its reader to at least second guess what one knows about the past. 

Aside from its heavy content, Hall’s work is a fast-paced book and an easy-to-read nonfiction graphic novel. It tells the story of Hall’s research on slave revolts in America in the 1700s and especially those that were planned and led by enslaved women. Hall tells her own story and what she has found out, but additionally strongly criticises how history is (still) told. Her narration also offers an insight to what it means for her to “live in the wake of slavery.” Since history is being written by its victors, little to nothing is known or written about slave revolts and similar events. The book follows Hall as she digs through archival records and libraries to uncover those stories. Since many truths were lost or simply not documented at all, Hall often struggles to find missing pieces and thus tends to fill the gaps by herself. Those imagined realities are used to present her fragmented work instead of not telling it at all. 

Martínez does an incredible job by illustrating both worlds, present and past, often even on the same page. His beautiful black and white sketches are filled with enormous detail. While the book was a rather quick read, Hall’s words and especially Martínez’ illustrations invite its readers to come back and re-examine their masterful work. 

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