Truth

by Jacqueline Sheehan

This is a haunting tale of Sojourner Truth, born Isabella, a slave to Dutch farmers in upstate New York. The life of of one of the greatest American heroes is captured in fiction. While logic would dictate that life under the iron fist of slavery would be enough to shatter the spirit of a young girl, Sojourner struggles to maintain her dignity despite all odds, despite the theft of her son, and her eventual flight to freedom.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, African American, Historical

304 pages, Hardcover

First published August 6, 2003

About the author

Jacqueline Sheehan, Ph.D., is a fiction writer and essayist. She is also a practicing psychologist. She is a New Englander through and through, but spent twenty years living in the western states of Oregon, California, and New Mexico doing a variety of things, including house painting, freelance photography, newspaper writing, clerking in a health food store, and directing a traveling troupe of high school puppeteers.

Reviews

[Rainbowgardener · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fictionalized story of the life and times of Sojourner Truth, born Isabella. In this case fictionalized allows the author to tell Sojourner's story in the first person, giving it more vividness and personalization than a biography could ever have. Also it allows Sheehan to imagine what Sojourner was thinking and feeling and to fill in conversations as they might have happened.

I didn't know that much about Sojourner Truth actually, just the basics of her story. The story is compelling and strange. I went and checked a couple parts to see if the novelization was making up parts completely. Everything I checked turned out to be true, including Sojourner (before she had taken that name, or as she says had been given that name by God) getting sucked in to a religious cult. As those things happen, the cult started with what must have been a positive vision of living close to God and sharing God's message, but got more and more toxic over time. The cult leader, Matthias the Prophet, starts getting his ego fed with the adulation and power and gets gradually more debased by it. Not until the cult falls apart in a mess of sex and death and Matthias goes to prison does Sojourner get herself free of it.

So the book is well researched and seems to stick pretty close to the facts. It probably didn't need to be 700 pages long. It is slow in places . It focuses mostly on Isabella's early years. The author says that is deliberate, because that is the part most of us don't know. But it means after 700 sometimes slow pages, the part about the Sojourner we do know and love feels rushed and elided. But still an amazing story of an amazing woman and the terrible ills of the time that she survived and that made her who she was. There are parts that resonate with the racism and hatred this country still struggles with.

[Susan Barber · Rating 4 out of 5]

I mostly enjoyed this book, and learned a lot about Sojourner Truth. The first three quarters, during which we witness Isabelle growing up in slavery and then eventually being freed, was sad but very well told. The many people with whom Isabella interacts are well drawn and we witness Isabella growing and changing. But when she joins The Prophet, I found myself losing interest. It seemed like from that point on, the book was just a chronicle of events, and Isabella’s acts don’t seem consistent with her character. It was the same when she becomes Sojourner. I just stopped feeling a connection to her. Overall 3.75 stars.

[Sheryl Casey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Always fascinating to read the story of someone who endured incredible hardship only to go on and make the world a better place. I especially enjoyed reading about Sojourner Truth’s formative years (most of the book) before she began speaking and advocating against slavery. Great read! I was a bit distracted by too many editing mistakes though.

[Deborah Gessner · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was disappointed in the ending and the lack of detail in Sojourner's later public life.

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Based on a true story about a slave in the New York area in the 1830s. She is eventually set free (and eventually joins a religious cult).

[Karen Cameron · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had heard the name Sojourn Truth, but knew nothing of her. Good introduction to a historical figure

[Shelia · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an interesting story! Part non-fiction as it is based on the life story of Sojourner Truth, who was a slave, author, abolitionist. It made me what to read more about her although I usually stick to fiction.
Fav Quotes: "Mr. Dumont hooked his fingers into his suspenders. "One prays to God. One does not talk to God as if He were a neighbor. If you were able to understand the Bible, you would know how queer an idea it is you have."
The thing about stories of famous people, they are very imperfect and some of the rotten things they do make it difficult to reconcile with all the great things to did. That is why they are so interesting to read about.....

[Anna Biton · Rating 3 out of 5]

a fictional telling of the life of Sojourner Truth. Very interesting to learn more about her and her life. The author clearly did a lot of research about her, as well as slavery in NY state in the 1800s and the abolitionist movements and utopian society in Western MA.
It took me a little while to get into but then it picked up. I'm not clear on how much artistic license the author took with the story but I'm sure she got the basics right...

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I have a soft spot for those who have struggled through abuse and misuse. Slavery truly was one of the greatest abominations this country has ever participated in. It is shocking to me the incredibly cruelty it could bring out in people. Slaves, Native Americans, those put in concentration camps in this country during World War II, there are so many who deserve so much better than they have received at the white mans hands.

[Megalion · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing well-researched book. The author did an excellent job in using historical record to weave a more thorough narrative of the trials and tribulations that Sojurner Truth likely endured.

I came to this after having read a contemporary chick-lit book and another that dips into the scifi realm with time travel. I was not expecting to find an amazing book about a very real important person in us history. Especially as the author's debut novel!!

[Abby · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was very good, but hard to read. A very intense, fictionalized, look at the life of Sojurner Truth and the horrid life of slavery that she went through. This is a book that makes me both proud and ashamed to be an American. Read this book, but be prepared.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good reconstruction of the life of Sojourner Truth. It lagged in the part about joining with the prophet. The chapters on her childhood were well done - you really got a picture of what it was like for her.

[Leslie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this one now - love it so far

[Laurie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good novel about Sojouner Truth who escaped slavery and went on the become advocate for abolitionists and womens rights.

[Sue · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was an extremely boring book. The hum drum daily activities of a slave in New York. I would not recommend.

[Mary Follis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sojourner was born Isabella Baumfree in 1797; this book imagines her life. Good book, leaves me wanting more information. Sojourner's grave is in nearby Battle Creek--I believe I'll go visit.

[Maggielynnanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heart-rending. True.