How They Did It: Creating Tension with POV in Master Slave Husband Wife

By Caitlin Wahrer

When I checked out Master Slave Husband Wife, the biography of an enslaved American couple who emancipated themselves in 1848, I expected a history lesson. I did not expect suspense lessons, but biographer Ilyon Woo surprised me. In telling the story of Ellen and William Craft, Woo employed a number of tricks I’ve seen in thrillers, mysteries, and suspense, and she kept me rapt for over 400 pages.

Woo opens with an author’s note that functioned, for me, like a scintill...