Author: Ilyon Woo
Year published: 2023
Category: Adult nonfiction
Pages: 416 pages
Rating: 4 out of 5
Location: (my 2024 Google Reading map): USA (GA, SC, NC, VA, DE, NY, PA, CT, MA, ME), Canada, UK
Summary: In 1848, a year of international democratic revolt, a young, enslaved couple, Ellen and William Craft, achieved one of the boldest feats of self-emancipation in American history. Posing as master and slave, while sustained by their love as husband and wife, they made their escape together across more than 1,000 miles, riding out in the open on steamboats, carriages, and trains that took them from bondage in Georgia to the free states of the North.
Along the way, they dodged slave traders, military officers, and even friends of their enslavers, who might have revealed their true identities. The tale of their adventure soon made them celebrities, and generated headlines around the country. Americans could not get enough of this charismatic young couple, who traveled another 1,000 miles criss-crossing New England, drawing thunderous applause as they spoke alongside some of the greatest abolitionist luminaries of the day—among them Frederick Douglass and William Wells Brown.
But even then, they were not out of danger. With the passage of an infamous new Fugitive Slave Act in 1850, all Americans became accountable for returning refugees like the Crafts to slavery. Then yet another adventure began, as slave hunters came up from Georgia, forcing the Crafts to flee once again—this time from the United States, their lives and thousands more on the line and the stakes never higher.
Review: One of my book groups chose this one and I was looking forward to reading it because it seems like it can have a bunch of angles that will make for interesting discussion. And it won the Pulitzer Prize for Biography this year.
I do love nonfiction that reads like fiction and this one does just that. It has a good combination of historical fact and background story with the actual journey of William and Ellen. Getting to know the people, their families, and more made me much more invested in their escape and experiences. I also appreciate understanding the times and geography a bit more.
Once Ellen and William are in Boston and supposedly free (but, not really) the story really takes on a ton of history: the upcoming Civil War rears its ugly head, the Fugitive Slave Law comes into play, and a TON of historical figures are entwined within the Craft's story. This book really makes the history become the personal, which is so effective.
The most frustrating for me is how the story ends for Ellen and William. All their work is not wasted, but I was surprised (I don't want to ruin the story in case you read it).
Challenges for which this counts:
- Nonfiction--
- Big Summer Book--416 pages
- Literary Escapes--Delaware, Maine, Canada
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