Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (Barnes & Noble Classics Series)

In what has become a landmark of American history and literature,Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girlrecounts the incredible but true story ofHarriet Jacobs, born a slave in North Carolina in 1813. Her tale gains its importance from her descriptions, in great and painful detail, of the sexual exploitation that daily haunted her lifeand the life of every other black female slave. As a child, Harriet Jacobs remained blissfully unaware that she was a slave until the deaths of both her mother and a benevolent mistress exposed her to a sexually predatory master, Dr. Flint. Determined to escape, she spends seven years hidden away in a garret in her grandmother's house, three feet high at its tallest point, with almost no air or light, and with only glimpses of her children to sustain her courage. In the face of seemingly insurmountable odds, she finally wins her battle for freedom by escaping to the North in 1842. A powerful, unflinching portrayal of the brutality of slave life,Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girlstands alongside Frederick Douglass's classic autobiographies as one of the most significant slave narratives ever written.

Farah Jasmine Griffin is Professor of English and Comparative Literature and African American Studies at Columbia University in New York City.