| When the book starts it is 1825 and Harriet
is only eleven years old. She has a little brother named John Jacobs. Both of their
parents have died, but they still have their Grandmother, Gran. Doctor and Maria
Norcom are Harriet, Gran and John's masters. Harriet knows
someone named Miss Margaret who teaches her how to read and spell, but she learns to write
by herself. She loves writing letters. She even writes letters to her parents
who live in heaven. The Norcom's give Harriet notebooks that she writes her letters
in. On April 10, 1828 Gran is freed. When Harriet is fourteen, Mrs.
Norcom throws her out because Harriet wants to get married to R who is a free slave.
She never gets married though. When Harriet is nineteen years old she gives birth to
her son, Joseph, and when she is twenty-two she has a daughter, Louisa. Samuel
Sawyer, a friend of the Norcom's, is the father of Harriet's children.
One day Harriet sees her name in the newspaper. Dr. Norcom is
offering a $300.00 reward for Harriet Jacobs. He wants her back because he finds out
that she has never married and she is very good at reading, writing and spelling. So
Harriet is forced to hide in a little room in Gran's house for seven years. Her
children don't even know their mother is in their house. After hiding in Gran's
house, Harriet escapes from the South and heads to New York to be free. She
eventually meets her children in New York where she and her daughter help women and men
learn how to read, write and spell. She thinks that all the cruel things that have
happened in her life should be published in a book. And that is this book...
Letters From A Slave Girl.
Winter 2002 |
