Review by Booklist Review
In the years before the American Civil War, the abolitionist movement thrived on narratives of self-emancipated people, who could recount from their own experience the physical and emotional tolls of slavery and the risks they took to flee from it. Here, Woo (The Great Divorce) recounts the lives of one such enslaved couple, little remembered today despite publishing their narrative in 1860. William and Ellen Craft escaped slavery by disguising the fair-skinned Ellen as a wealthy white man traveling with William as her enslaved attendant. Both skilled craftspeople, the Crafts hoped to make a home in Boston, where they connected with abolitionist activists and shared their story with enraptured audiences. Ellen's former enslaver, determined to pursue the couple, eventually forced the Crafts to immigrate to the United Kingdom, where they found work as lecturers and teachers. At every step of their journey, they were sustained by bravery, determination, and their firm love for each other. Never losing sight of slavery's quotidian horrors, this book tells a quintessentially American story of Black love, courage, and agency.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Historian Woo (The Great Divorce) seamlessly knits together an in-depth portrait of antebellum America and a thrilling account of an enslaved couple's escape to freedom. In 1848, William and Ellen Craft, a dark-skinned cabinet maker and his wife, a light-skinned maid owned by her half-sister, escaped from Macon, Ga., to Philadelphia by hiding in plain sight. Ellen disguised herself as a young and wealthy, yet sickly, white gentleman, while William posed as her servant. Traveling more than 1,000 miles in four days on steamships, carriages, and trains, the couple experienced close calls (William's employer searched their train before it left Macon, but did not recognize Ellen in her disguise and ran out of time before reaching William in the "Negro car") and amusing ironies (two young women accompanying their elderly father swooned over Ellen). After the Crafts reached New England and joined the abolitionist lecture circuit, their former enslavers tried to reclaim them through the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, but the couple fled to Canada and then England. Throughout, Woo expertly portrays the gruesome details of slave auctions; the rigors of the antislavery lecture circuit, where protestors subjected speakers to the "abolitionist baptism" of "rotten eggs and fist-sized stones"; and the exploits of antislavery activists including William Still and Mifflin Wistar Gibbs. This novelistic history soars. Agent: Julie Barer, the Book Group. (Jan.)
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Review by Library Journal Review
Woo (The Great Divorce) presents the story of William and Ellen Craft's extraordinary journey out of enslavement into freedom. The couple began their road to self-emancipation in Macon, GA. Ellen's light skin color enabled her to pose as a wealthy white male painter accompanied by a servant, William. The couple traveled north on steamboats, stagecoaches, and railroads, buttressed by their undying love. Upon reaching freedom, they began sharing their story on the abolitionist lecture circuit. When the Fugitive Slave Acts of 1793 and 1850 made their situation too dangerous, the Crafts escaped to Canada and eventually to England. Narrators Janina Edwards and Leon Nixon bring out the suspense in this thrilling story, while movingly describing the couple's enduring love and commitment. Their dramatic reading enhances Woo's meticulously crafted work, which draws upon rare historical sources, supplemented by the Crafts' 1860 book, Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom. The author wisely recommends further scholarly research and analysis to fill in the gaps in the Crafts' original memoir, which mainly focuses only on their escape experiences and not their entire lives. VERDICT This inspirational, exhilarating work, undoubtedly destined for a Hollywood adaptation, is an essential purchase for all libraries.--Dale Farris
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
An engaging tale of one enslaved couple's journey to freedom and a love that conquered all. What do enduring love and devotion look like, and how can determined lovers overcome their circumstances? Woo, the author of The Great Divorce, answers those questions by taking readers on a gripping adventure with Ellen Craft (1826-1891) and William Craft (1824-1900), who risked their lives to escape slavery in Georgia in 1848. Refreshingly, the text "is not fictionalized. Every description and line of dialogue originates in historic sources, beginning with the Crafts' own 1860 account, Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom." With debates about slavery raging nationally, the Crafts slipped away, beginning a long, arduous journey to claim their emancipation. "No Underground Railroad assisted them out of the South," writes the author. "They moved like clockwork harnessing the latest technologies of their day: steamboats, stagecoaches, and, above all, an actual railroad, riding tracks laid by the enslaved, empowered by their disguise as master and slave, by the reality of their love as husband and wife." Ellen, who "could pass for White," disguised herself as wealthy "invalid" Mr. Johnson, and William played the role of Johnson's devoted slave. Along their journey from Macon, Georgia, and up through Philadelphia, Boston, and Halifax, they evaded nosy onlookers and determined slave catchers working under the aegis of the Fugitive Slave Act. The Crafts also joined the abolitionist speaking circuit. Speaking to packed halls, they risked being caught and returned to their owners, one of whom was Ellen's half sister. Sheltered and celebrated by local abolitionists, the Crafts learned to trust those working within the abolitionist system. They agreed to lead public lives, and eventually, they landed in England, where they settled, started a family, and continued to share their story. Throughout, Woo's narrative is suspenseful and wonderfully told. A captivating tale that ably captures the determination and courage of a remarkable couple. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
