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A seminal historical work, demonstrating the horror of slavery and the particular problems faced by female slaves, it is an autobiographical narrative of Harriet Ann Jacobs, a runaway slave who originally wrote under the pseudonym Linda Brent. Jacobs/Brent escaped slavery in the American South to become an abolitionist, writer and activist. It is difficult to read passages like the man procreating with his female slaves just to increase his stock and the casual cruelty of slave owners and traders, emotional and physical, and the absolute denial of humanity in slaves who were often told that they were not human, their families split up, selling children away from parents and siblings and raising slave children of the owner alongside his wife's children to be slaves to their siblings. There are however small acts of kindness shown by various people and Harriet gains freedom for herself and her children and act as beacons of hope in a dark place. First published in 1861. 255 page paperback reprint.