Full catalogue / Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl

Harriet Jacobs

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl

Name: Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
Brand: Polyglot Publishing
SKU: 97637746-14df-f0ad-a2fc-d8d6f58bebff
Price: 40.99 EUR
Availability: InStock
Author: Harriet Jacobs

Original publication: 1861
Bilingual edition: June 12, 2026
Pages: 471
Difficulty: ★☆☆
Genres: Biography and Autobiography, History
Translated from: English

Book summary

Harriet, born into slavery, recounts a childhood marked by fear, violence, and the absence of freedom. Determined to escape her condition, she plans a risky flight to protect her dignity and that of her children. Her path is filled with ordeals, but also acts of courage and resistance. This powerful testimony reveals the reality of slavery and its human consequences. The author offers a direct, moving narrative that highlights the struggle for freedom and survival.

The plot

A mother hides under a roof to save her children. A little girl grows up in a town in the American South. She is happy and does not know she is a slave. She learns it at six. Her mistress teaches her to read.

The world of the book

A small Southern town in the days of slavery. The story begins around 1820 in Edenton, a small town in North Carolina. In the American South, millions of Black people are enslaved: they are bought and sold like…

The author

Harriet Jacobs, 1813 – 1897. Harriet Jacobs is born into slavery in North Carolina. She learns to read, which is rare for an enslaved woman. In 1842, she escapes by boat to the North. In 1853, a newspaper claims that…

The benefits of the bilingual method with Line-by-line synced layout

Every line of the original has its translation directly beneath it, at the same height. You never lose your place: your eye drops one line and lands on exactly the sentence it just read. This is the layout that lets you open a book in a language you barely know without ever giving up, and compare the two texts almost word for word.

The excerpt shows the method using another book from the catalogue, not this one.

Similar books

Explore the site

Other languages you can learn

See the whole catalogue