"Twelve Years a Slave" by Solomon Northup. A Review
12 Years A Slave by Solomon Northup My rating: 5 of 5 stars A gut-wrenching autobiography! That's Solomon Northup's "Twelve Years a Slave," the personal recounting of his years of enforced slavery between 1841 to 1853. The tale as told is normally matter-of-fact and descriptive, exhibiting intensely personal knowledge of cotton farming, sugar cane harvesting, as well as daily details of a slave's life. There are appropriate places where the author's blood boils, but those are rare. What makes this personal monograph gut-wrenching is the injustice of it all. The reader will slowly find themselves identifying with the writer, imagining themselves in his cotton clothes, feeling the suffocating darkness of suddenly having no rights, no voice and only marginal personhood; while scrabbling for food, for one more day of life, one less time of whippings, and one last chance at dignity! There are surprising high points as well. Master Ford, Northup's first owner...