Examining the first- and best-known female account of life under, and escape from, slavery, Incidents in the Life of A Slave Girl, Written by Herself recounts Harriet Jacobs' story and shows how she used the written word to liberate herself and promote the end of slavery by inspiring sympathy.

Author Biography

Jennifer Fleischner (Ph.D., Columbia) is a professor of English at Adelphi University. She is the author of Mrs. Lincoln and Mrs. Keckly: The Remarkable Story of the Friendship Between a First Lady and a Former Slave (2004) and Mastering Slavery: Memory, Family, and Identity in Women's Slave Narratives (1996), as well as the historical novel Nobody s Boy (2006). With Susan Weisser she is also the co-editor of Feminist Nightmares: Women at Odds: Feminism and the Problem of Sisterhood (1994)."