A Slave Girl's Story
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3.7 • 35 Ratings
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Publisher Description
An Autobiography of Kate Drumgoold (1898) is all about her experiences as a slave and afterwards. Born in Virginia of slave parents in 1858 or 1859, Drumgoold was four or five years old when, in 1863, President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. Two years later, what remained of her family (ten daughters and their mother) moved to Brooklyn, where Drumgoold grew up and lived, working as a domestic and teacher. This is the opening passage of her book: Once a slave girl, I have endeavored to fill the pages with some of the most interesting thoughts that my mind is so full of, and not with something that is dry. This sketch is written for the good of those that have written and prayed that the slaves might be a freed people, and have schools and books and learn to read and write for themselves; and the Lord, in His love for us and to us as a race, has ever found favor in His sight, for when we were in the land of bondage He heard the prayers of the faithful ones, and came to deliver them out of the Land of Egypt. For God loves those that are oppressed, and will save them when they cry unto him, and when they put their trust in Him. Some of the dear ones have gone to the better land, but this is one of the answers to their prayers. .
Customer Reviews
Not a fulfilling read
Just boring with no depth. I wanted truth and sincerity. What I got was this person was so nice to me....etc.
Book Title Is Deceptive
The author, Ms. Drumgoold, is sincere in her beliefs, but the title of her story is hardly reflected in her narrative. This autobiography is a confusing mixture of continuous praise and worship of God and a “laundry list” of all the people who employed or taught her. This was a difficult read in that it lacked total effort on the author’s part to organize her thoughts.
Charming author but mediocre book
I downloaded thinking it would be a slave narrative. After a few pages I realized she was born near the end of slavery but continued reading anyway because the author struck me as such a sweet person and because it is a rather short book.
This book is really just a loose collection of reflections, mostly of nice people that she has met throughout her life. I concluded reading it thinking she would have been a lovely person to know but her book is not really that interesting.
I would suggest reading a few chapters and deciding if you want to read the rest. This is a good test because the rest of the book is quite similar the first few chapters...just reflections of the nice people she knew in her life.
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