samanthabryant 's review for:

4.0

This book was a miracle of delicacy. Douglass was faced with a daunting writing task: tell the story of his escape from slavery, while slavery was still in practice, making abolitionists feel good about their work, without endangering those who helped him in his journey or revealing information that would stop other slaves from escaping their bonds. An amazing accomplishment to have done all of this and still presented a cohesive narrative, moving in its descriptions, that doesn't wallow in the ugliness nor gloss over it, but instead confronts the realities with honest and personal assessment.

Two points that struck me powerfully were the detrimental effects of slavery on slave holders, and the special hypocrisy of religious slave holders. I only wish I could have heard the man speak with my own ears.