Recommendations For Memoirs/Novels On Slavery

gothicangel

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I'm looking for some inspiration for the current segment of my novel, and would like to read a bit more up on people's experiences of slavery. It doesn't matter the historical period, preferably non-fiction, but open to fiction (in the past I've read Christian Cameron's Killer of Men and Ben Kane's Hannibal which where very good, and just downloaded the book of 12 Years A Slave).

Thanks. :)
 

cornflake

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There's Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, a memoir of a female slave's experience (in the American south). One of the few female slave memoirs. It's amazing. Kind of similar to 12 Years a Slave in some ways.

You didn't mention Sojurner Truth, so I am, though you may have read her, as she's such a known, for good reason, writer and speaker.

Same with Frederick Douglass.
 

beckethm

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In addition to the titles cornflake mentioned, you might look at Booker T. Washington's Up From Slavery, and in fiction, Toni Morrison's Beloved and Alex Haley's Roots.
 

Unimportant

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If you mean specifically African slaves in the American South, there are a number of primary sources you can download for free here, another set here, and the full text of Memoirs of a Monticello Slave here.
 

angeliz2k

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As you probably know, the Old South is one of my eras. I'll second the Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Frederick Douglas's Narrative, and 12 Years a Slave (book and movie!). Fanny Kemble's Journal of a Residence on a Georgian Plantation is from a white [English]woman's perspective but I always recommend it as an interesting viewpoint from an outsider.
 

Orianna2000

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Alex Haley's Queen is really good. It starts before the Civil War and continues afterwards, as the main character struggles to live "free."
 

Lil

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Fiction, but powerful:
William Styron, The Confessions of Nat Turner

There's also plenty of stuff, fictional and nonfictional, about Spartacus. Plutarch is a pleasant introduction.
 

gothicangel

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Sorry for not responding over the weekend (no internet access).

Wow, great recommendations! Lots of reading to look forward to. :)
 

gothicangel

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Also, I should point out (though it probably goes without saying) that slavery in the American South was very different from the slavery of, say, Ancient Rome.

Chalk and cheese. Just to clarify that I'm not looking to put US slavery into Ancient Rome, but looking for research that will help kick-start my imagination to how my character experiences slavery. I've extensively researched slavery laws and the history in the ancient world already, but looking for something more 'personal' (we have no Roman slaves giving their take on slavery) to help with my book. Going to more modern sources seems the way to go.
 

Tom from UK

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I remember enjoying (if that's the right word) 'The Book of Negroes' by Lawrence Hill. Published in the US as 'Someone Knows My Name'. Well worth reading.