In 1861, Harriet Jacobs became the first formerly enslaved African American woman to publish a book-length account of her life. In crafting her coming-of-age story, she insisted upon biographical accuracy and bold creativity telling the truth while giving herself and others fictionalized names. She also adapted conventions from other popular genres, the sentimental novel and the slave narrative. Then, despite facing obstacles not encountered by Black men and white women, she orchestrated the book's publication and became a traveling bookseller in an effort to inspire passive Americans to support the abolition of slavery.Engaging with the latest research on Jacobs's life and work, this edition helps readers to understand the enormity of Jacobs's achievement in writing, publishing, and distributing her life story. However, it also shows how this monumental accomplishment was only the beginning of her contributions, given her advocacy work over the nearly forty years that she lived after its publication. As a survivor of sexual abuse who became an advocate, Jacobs laid a foundation for activist movements such as #BlackLivesMatter and #MeToo. This edition also features six appendices, placing resources at readers' fingertips that further illuminate the issues raised by Jacobs's remarkable life and legacy.

This autobiographical account by a former slave is one of the few extant narratives written by a woman. Written and published in 1861, it delivers a powerful, unflinching portrayal of the brutality of slave life. Jacobs speaks frankly of her master's abuse and her eventual escape, in an amazing and inspirational account of one woman's dauntless spirit and faith.

Jacobs' classic narrative, written between 1853 and 1858 and published in 1861, is a haunting evocative recounting of her life as a slave in North Carolina, and of her final escape and emancipation.

This Modern Library Paperback Classics edition combines the two most important African American slave narratives into one volume.
Frederick Douglass's Narrative, first published in 1845, is an enlightening and incendiary text. Born into slavery, Douglass became the preeminent spokesman for his people during his life; his narrative is an unparalleled account of the dehumanizing effects of slavery and Douglass's own triumph over it. Like Douglass, Harriet Jacobs was born into slavery, and in 1861 she published Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, now recognized as the most comprehensive antebellum slave narrative written by a woman. Jacobs's account broke the silence on the exploitation of African American female slaves, and it remains crucial reading. These narratives illuminate and inform each other. This edition includes an incisive Introduction by Kwame Anthony Appiah and extensive annotations.

"From the Trade Paperback edition."

This Norton Critical Edition includes: The first edition (1861), with the editors' explanatory annotations, introduction, and glossary of the people of Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. Three illustrations. Key public statements by Harriet Jacobs, William C. Nell, the Reverend Francis J. Grimke, and others. A rich selection of correspondence by Harriet Jacobs, Lydia Maria Child, and John Greenleaf Whittier, suggesting Incidents's initial reception. Ten major critical essays, six of them new to the Second Edition. A Chronology and a Selected Bibliography. About the Series Read by more than 12 million students over fifty-five years, Norton Critical Editions set the standard for apparatus that is right for undergraduate readers. The three-part format-annotated text, contexts, and criticism-helps students to better understand, analyze, and appreciate the literature, while opening a wide range of teaching possibilities for instructors. Whether in print or in digital format, Norton Critical Editions provide all the resources students need.

200th Anniversary Edition
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
Harriet Jacobs Writing as Linda Brent
""It has been painful to me, in many ways, to recall the dreary years I passed in bondage. I would gladly forget them if I could. Yet the retrospection is not altogether without solace; for with these gloomy recollections come tender memories of my good old grandmother, like light fleecy clouds floating over a dark and troubled sea.""
One of the most memorable slave narratives, Harriet Jacobs's "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl "illustrates the overarching evil and pervasive depravity of the institution of slavery. In great and painful detail, Jacobs describes her life as a Southern slave, the exploitation that haunted her daily life, her abuse by her master, the involvement she sought with another white man in order to escape her master, and her determination to win freedom for herself and her children. From her seven years of hiding in a garret that was three feet high, to her harrowing escape north to a reunion with her children and freedom, Jacobs's "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl" remains an outstanding example of one woman's extraordinary courage in the face of almost unbeatable odds, as well as one of the most significant testimonials in American history.

"This may be the most important story ever written by a slave woman, capturing as it does the gross indignities as well as the subtler social arrangements of the time."-Kirkus Review "Of female slave narratives, Harriet Jacobs's Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Written by Herself is the crowning achievement. Manifesting a command of rhetorical and narrative strategies rivaled only by that of Frederick Douglass, Jacobs's autobiography is one of the major works of Afro-American literature"-Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Incidents In the Life of a Slave Girl, the autobiography of Harriet Jacobs, was initially written with the intention of illuminating white abolitionists to the appalling treatment of female slaves in the pre-Civil War South of the United States. The book was later rediscovered in the 1960's, and it was not until the 1980s that it was proved to be an extraordinary work of autobiographical memoir as opposed to fiction. In this astonishing book, Harriet Jacobs uses the pseudonym of Linda Brent to recount her story as a slave, a mother, and her eventual escape to the north. Born into a relatively calm life as a young child to slaves, she is taken into the care of a kind mistress when her mother dies. Linda is taught to read and write, and is generally treated with respect. When the mistress passes away Linda is handed over to Dr. Flint. He is a negligent and cruel new master who subsequently pressures Linda for sexual favors, yet she resists his demands for years. In an attempt to circumvent the situation, Linda enters into a relationship with Mr. Sands, a white neighbor who ends up fathering her two children. Expecting that she and her children will be sold to Mr. Sands, Dr. Flint instead decides to subject them to further degradation. Linda escapes and goes into hiding in a small attic, and her children are eventually sold to Mr. Sand. For over seven years, Linda remains in hiding, until she ultimately escapes North to be reunited with her children. Incidents In the Life of a Slave Girl is a devastating yet empowering document that uniquely focuses on the psychological and spiritual effects that bondage had on women slaves and their families. With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl is both modern and readable.

This Modern Library Paperback Classics edition combines the two most important African American slave narratives into one volume.

Frederick Douglass's Narrative, first published in 1845, is an enlightening and incendiary text. Born into slavery, Douglass became the preeminent spokesman for his people during his life; his narrative is an unparalleled account of the dehumanizing effects of slavery and Douglass's own triumph over it. Like Douglass, Harriet Jacobs was born into slavery, and in 1861 she published Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, now recognized as the most comprehensive antebellum slave narrative written by a woman. Jacobs's account broke the silence on the exploitation of African American female slaves, and it remains crucial reading. These narratives illuminate and inform each other. This edition includes an incisive Introduction by Kwame Anthony Appiah and extensive annotations.

Straightforward, yet often poetic accounts of the battle for freedom, three memoirs by courageous black women vividly chronicle their struggles in the bonds of slavery, their rebellion against degrading injustice, and their determination to attain racial equality. In "Narrative of Sojourner Truth," one of the most important documents on slavery ever written, a passionate African American abolitionist and champion of women's rights tells of her life as a slave, her self-liberation, and her tireless campaign for racial and sexual equality. "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl" is the 1861 autobiographical account of the brutality of slave life by Harriet Jacobs, who speaks frankly of her master's abuse and her eventual escape, in a tale of dauntless spirit and faith. In "The History of Mary Prince, "the first black woman to escape from slavery in the British colonies and publish a record of her experiences vividly recalls her life in the West Indies, her rebellion against physical and psychological degradation, and her 1828 escape in England.