THE SUNDAY REVIEW | TWELVE YEARS A SLAVE – SOLOMON NORTHUP

I never really planned to read this book, but it’s Black History month and I saw it on the shelf… it felt like the right time. I’m sure most of you know all about this book because it was made into a film a few years ago, but just in case, here’s the basics. Solomon Northup was a freeman from New York who was kidnapped in 1841 and sold into slavery in Louisiana, where he remained for twelve years, finally regaining his freedom in 1853.

Having been a freeman, Northup had an education and set of skills uncommon amongst the enslaved. Not only could he read and write, but he was a professional violinist (a skill that benefited him even during his years as a slave). Because of this education, he was able to write his first-hand account of slavery – something not many slaves were ever able to do. Because of that, I believe this is one of the few accurate accounts of what it was like to be a slave during that time that exists today. As such, it is a vitally important book for anyone who wishes to understand what that experience was like.

I went into this expecting it to be a tough read. And, of course, it was. But in a weird kind of way, it wasn’t as rough as I thought it would be. It has horrors in it – deep horrors that will take your breath away – but there’s also a lot of day-to-day. It’s presented as a grim reality, but an accepted one. It underlines how deeply ingrained slavery was as a part of American life at that time, and serves as a warning of what the human brain is able to normalize. I found this to be one of the most unsettling aspects of the book.

Northup writes with a sort of coolness and remove that provides the reader with more of a birds-eye view of events, even though it is a first-hand account. I think this also lessened some of the impact of the traumatizing events on the reader. It made me wonder if this was just a common tone taken in written accounts at the time, or the only way he could bear to write it at all.  Despite that, this book will make you feel how trapped Northup was – he was legally entitled to his freedom, but to assert that fact would endanger him, as anyone in possession of a freeman sold as a slave would be subject to punishment. To share that information was to put himself in grave danger. So the very thing that should have set him free had to be kept secret. It must have been excruciating for him to have had freedom and lost it, and to have no idea whether he’d ever see his family again.

This book is absolutely required reading. I’m so glad I decided to pick it up when I did. I’m not going to tell you that you’ll enjoy it – you won’t. There’s suspense that will keep you turning the pages, and he’s good at drawing characters and setting the scene. But mostly this book will give you a chilling window into one of the worst chapters of American (or, indeed, world) history and though you may flinch, you cannot look away. This book is a way to bear witness to the birth of an inequity and deep multi-generational trauma that is still holding down Black people to this day. Understanding this history is vital to beginning to understand its effects, and this book is an important place to start. I cannot recommend it enough.

Part of the Penguin Orange Collection, a limited-run series of twelve influential and beloved American classics in a bold series design offering a modern take on the iconic Penguin paperback

For the seventieth anniversary of Penguin Classics, the Penguin Orange Collection celebrates the heritage of Penguin’s iconic book design with twelve influential American literary classics representing the breadth and diversity of the Penguin Classics library. These collectible editions are dressed in the iconic orange and white tri-band cover design, first created in 1935, while french flaps, high-quality paper, and striking cover illustrations provide the cutting-edge design treatment that is the signature of Penguin Classics Deluxe Editions today.

Twelve Years a Slave

Perhaps the best written of all the slave narratives, Twelve Years a Slave is a harrowing memoir about one of the darkest periods in American history. Brought to new attention by the Academy Award–winning film adaptation, it is recognized for its unusual insight and eloquence as one of the very few portraits of American slavery produced by someone as educated as Solomon Northup, or by someone with the dual perspective of having been both a free man and a slave. – Goodreads

Book Title: Twelve Years a Slave
Author: Solomon Northup
Series: No
Edition: Paperback/Audiobook
Published By: Penguin Orange Collection
Released: September 6, 2016 (first published February 5, 1853)
Genre: Non-Fiction, Memoir, African American History
Pages: 256
Date Read: February 10-20, 2021
Rating: 9/10
Average Goodreads Rating: 4.18/5 (100,350 ratings)