A review by lindseyzank
Complete Writings by Phillis Wheatley

3.0

(I only read excerpts from this collection) This style of poetry is not my cup of tea, but the woman behind it is inspiring. A black slave is brought over to America and despite all that is pitted against her because of her race and social status, she learns to read and write. Beyond that, she becomes an artist. She often writes in iambic pentameter with an intense understanding for poetic traditions that came long before her (Homeric for example). Her audacity and sheer courage to write to such figuers as George Washington who was a known supporter of slavery shines through in this collection of poems and letters. Wheatley should be rightfully seen as one of the founding mothers of American literature.