12 Years a Slave

A heart wrenching , brutal story about an innocent man being kidnapped for the benefits of slavery, 12 years a slave is a moving, excellent book.

Drugged and captured wrongly by two men who offered him a job opportunity, Northup was lured into the slave trade. His free papers removed from his innocent hands, being torn away from his family and home town, Northup tells the story of a brutal, excruciatingly painful 12 years in captivity.

Having only memories of his family, he urges to stay alive and get home. Being stripped of identification documents and chained like a dog, Northup was left bare of any belongings. Experiencing violent whippings and then being transported via sea, Northup was eventually sold in Bayou to a plantation owner. It's here he spends his 12 years in captivity.

Hiding all of his talents , Northup was only seen as an everyday man, but a black man. A free man born with the wrong colour skin. Using extreme detail , Northup expresses himself using his only talent he can make visible and one that cant be taken away, writing in his diary. Expressing his feelings on paper, later turned into a book, Solomon Northup shows his story, a story of a black man dragged into slavery, extremely well. I would recommend this book to anyone. Although it contains complex language and maintains an old style of writing, 12 years a slave is a magnificent book.

Lucy Oakley