Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup

Born free and willing to work for men he doesn’t know, Solomon Northup is tricked, kidnapped and sold.  Declaring he is a free man of New York only earns him beatings.  He realizes he must not speak of his free status if he is to live.  He ends up in the state of Louisiana where he becomes a field hand for a particularly cruel owner.  He has many skills other slaves lack, which gains him some advantages.  But the master’s whip is handy and he must be careful.  The style of writing is supposed to be typical of the mid 1800’s but seemed to be overblown.  It seems unlikely Solomon would really have talked and written like that.  It has been made into an award winning movie, but as a book, I didn’t like it.  It seems more like a good movie script fleshed out to be long enough for a book.  4 out of 10.