Rating: 
Summary: A Beautiful Learning Experience
Review: I couldn't have been more moved or impressed with a work of literature than I was with "The Bondwoman's Narrative" by Hannah Crafts and Henry Louis Gates Jr (Editor). Sadly, this is a part of history and literature that I am not that familiar with so I was eager to read this and expand my horizons and knowledge base. WOW! I was taken back in time to a world that I can hardly imagine. As a 27 year old white woman living in 2002 I can't even begin to truly understand what it meant to be a black slave in the South. It is a completely different world and existence that I will never comprehend. The mere fact that she was a self-educated woman who survived to reach freedom should be enough to make this a wonderful work but, it's so much more. It's the human condition and spirit that takes the reader on an adventure with Ms. Crafts. I was charmed.I found the Introduction by Mr. Gates particularly informative and was entranced by his ease and clear explanations. It is truly amazing how he found this unknown jewel. I am so glad that he did, because it provided me with knowledge that I desperately needed. Thank you!
Rating:
Summary: Its amazing...
Review: I didn't think there was anything I didn't know about slavery in America but I was wrong. As an African American, there was times I had to put the book down because of simmering anger over the harsh institution of slavery. Hannah says on more than one occasion she seen no worth in slaves marrying only to be sold away from each other or to promote slavery by having more children produced from the marriage. Never before had I put the two together in thought, marriage and slavery. I finished the book and consider it good reading and excellent research notes.
Rating:
Summary: Its amazing...
Review: I didn't think there was anything I didn't know about slavery in America but I was wrong. As an African American, there was times I had to put the book down because of simmering anger over the harsh institution of slavery. Hannah says on more than one occasion she seen no worth in slaves marrying only to be sold away from each other or to promote slavery by having more children produced from the marriage. Never before had I put the two together in thought, marriage and slavery. I finished the book and consider it good reading and excellent research notes.
Rating:
Summary: Almost a must read
Review: I heard about this book on NPR while driving between New York and Maine ... and ordered it soon after arriving home ... I'm glad I had my girfriend make a note of the title. EXCELLENT. At the risk of racist overtones, it is hard to believe the narrative was written by an escaped slave. Everything about it is pure gold. I find it hard to equate her use of language -- her skilled use of language and image -- with current popular genre. And it is assuredly a stretch to equate her vocabulary with that associated with Eddy Murphy, or the common persona depicted by any other black entertainer. Recognizing that Gates is both black, and extremely well educated -- it is even a stretch to equate his style with the beautiful and powerful imagry that Hannah commands. Oh that I had her skill -- or that the literary skills of any who profess to be a product of our education establishment could even aspire to this level of writing. In short -- buy this! And use it as a model for the level of achievement that every school should designate minimum standard for graduation ...
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful!
Review: I just finished reading this book, and it was amazing. I thank Mr Gates for editing this and letting us, the public, read it firsthand. For anyone who will read this, it was best for me to just jump right in to chapter one and then go back to the preface. You actually see where she crossed out words and re-wrote phrases. This impresses on a reader that a real person may have lived this novel, and is sending it to the future to be read. Truely a link to the past, and I think everyone should read this.
Rating:
Summary: what an insight into the lives of slaves!
Review: I loved Hannah Craft's book! I read the editor's prelude and found it very interesting but a bit technical for my non-academic status. The meat of the book, the manuscript written by the former slave Hannah Craft will evoke very emotion that you have. She was a woman ahead of her time, she amazed me and inspired me. Her courage and conviction to live her believes, to find justice, to realize freedom and live as God would have any human being are lessons we can all use today.
Rating: 
Summary: Two Books In One
Review: I purchased this book to read about Gates journey to find the first novel written by an Afican American female. In addition to Gates adventure, the actual romance novel written by Hannah Crafts is found in its entirety. I felt I received two books in one!
Rating:
Summary: closest thing to being there
Review: I saw Professor Gates on Charlie Rose, and immediately ordered a copy of this book. The story challenges the stereotypes of slaves and masters during those terrible times--all slaves weren't "yes, massah" creatures and all masters/mistresses weren't whip-bearing monsters (although the image of the old nursemaid and her dog hanging in the linden tree is impossible to get out of your head--truth or fiction). The overwhelming sensation of the inhumanity of slavery--no matter how kind the master--hangs over the story, and the yearning to be free is so great, you can't help but be relieved that the story has a happy ending. Seeing her careful self-editing and reading about her thimble-pressed correction papers and homemade bookbinding made reading this book very sweet--this lady deserves to be recognized and published! Thank you Professor Gates and all the other people who preserved this work.
Rating:
Summary: A GREAT SLAVE NARRATIVE
Review: In THE BONDWOMAN'S NARRATIVE Hannah Crafts eloquently details the experiences of a light skinned female slave in the South in the decades preceding the Civil War. Discovered in the form as an unpublished manuscript by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. it is believed that this is the first slave narrative written by an African-American woman from only her perspective. Gates provides thorough scientific and literary evidence in both the forward and appendix proving its authenticity. I give Gates the benefit of the doubt that this manuscript is authentic as I am not an expert to judge otherwise. Regardless, THE BONDWOMAN'S NARRATIVE is a thoroughly enjoyable book that kept me reading far beyond my original intentions. I especially enjoyed the sections describing her accounts of running away from her master and mistress to freedom. Also admirable are her depictions of the evil slave speculator Mr. Trappe. What a hateful man he was to totally disregard the well being of slave for the sheer enjoyment of monetary profit. Hannah has the ability to make these characters come alive and does a good job at representing this painful time in American history. I applaud Gates for publishing the manuscript therefore enabling others to enjoy and sympathize with the life journey of Hannah. Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: Not Just Another Slave Narrative
Review: In the Bondwoman's Narrative, the meat of the book for me is the introduction by Henry Louis Gates. Gates obtained the manuscript of this fictionalized autobiography of the mysterious Hannah Crafts, a slave woman. It has yet to be determined if in fact that was the author's real name or a fictitious one. Also in question is the validity of the story. I think Gates has established a good argument of proclaiming this the first narrative written by a female fugitive slave usurping his previous discovery of Harriet Jacob of Our Nig. Galvanized by the discovery that the manuscript was formerly owned by Dorothy Porter Wesley, former librarian at Howard University, Gates does an excellent job of authenticating the manuscript with ink and paper specialists. The story of Hannah Crafts' escape from slavery and how her mixed blood was instrumental in the facilitation of that escape is unremarkable in the respect that we have read and heard it before. The figure of the tragic mulatto is common among slave narratives, the trials and tribulation of being enslaved, suffering the cruelties of the institution yet not considering oneself the average slave. Indeed Hannah was a house slave and until she ran away, she had not incurred any real hardship. When she is faced with the possibility of being forced to marry a slave she deems beneath her as well as the terror of moving to the slave quarters amidst the squalor and poverty of it all, she rebels. A white woman taught her to read and write and she served in the household of educated masters where books were aplenty. This probably accounts for the flowery, lyrical writing style reminiscent of Jane Austen and other writers of that time. This book is one that will stay in the personal library especially of those who are history, African American studies, and genealogy enthusiasts. The reading of this has re-established my interest in slave narratives and the genealogy, history and culture of our race.
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