Reviews

A Shadow on the Household: One Enslaved Family's Incredible Struggle for Freedom by Bryan Prince

cat_king's review against another edition

4.0

This book earns its four stars for the depth and breadth of the research that Bryan Price put into it. I learned so much about the world in which slaves lived as the U.S. headed toward civil war.

justabean_reads's review

3.0

Lots of interesting information here, but I found the presentation a bit muddled, and the various historical figures difficult to keep track of. As there wasn't really enough story to follow a close focus on the one family, the book spread out with background on everyone involved in their struggle, which as I mentioned was interesting, and provided a snapshot of the pro and anti slavery movements at the time, but more or less sapped the narrative drive out of the book.

If you're really interested in the various controversies in the abolitionist community in the Antebellum US, worth a read, but probably not as a story in its own sake.