Slavery

[Linda]

A fascinating subject covered in a wonderful novel. About a fact of history that few know about, black slave owners

[Kellie]

What I found most interesting about The Known World is the way that it depicted the lives of slaves in their day-to-day activities. They fought with their spouses, pouted, indulged each other, were kind or unkind to each other and their masters. Before, when I thought of slaves I only thought of the horrors of it; the beatings, the humiliation, the sorrow. This book revealed depth and humanity that I hadn't really thought about before.

[Beverly]

At the time that i read this book there were five other black women in my circle who had also read/were reading the book. Our ages ranged from early-20's to mid-50's. We had as varying opinions about the book as our ages. For me it was by far one of the most complex and satisfying reads i've ever had. The plot-line that struck me most was the couple who was "gifted" a slave. They couldn't free her because of the laws and more importantly couldn't sell her because of the possibility of her being in a more horrifying condition. I had previously read about blacks and indians owning black slaves, but had never thought about the fact that some had to have faced this very dilema.