Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl

Published in 1861, this book is one of the last of many slave narratives published before the Civil War; it is also one of the few existing narratives written by a woman. As such it offers a unique perspective on the complex plight of the black woman as slave and as writer. Merging the conventions of the slave narrative with the techniques of the sentimental novel, Harriet Jacobs describes her efforts to fight off the advances of her master, her eventual liaison with another white man, the father of her two children, and her ultimately successful struggle for freedom.