A Slave No More

The author has taken two recently discovered slave narratives and, through research, constructed the principals' childhoods and post-escape lives. Both escaped from their bondage during the Civil War and established lives for themselves afterwards. This combination of primary and secondary source material is mirrored in the performance of the work, with Arthur Morey for the secondary material and Dominic Hoffman for the narratives. Both give suitable readings of their respective texts. Delivering the secondary material, Morey gives a competent but somewhat restrained, almost pedantic, reading. Hoffman, however, reading the actual slaves narratives, gives a spirited and engaging performance with appropriate accents. M.T.F. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine


Two rare slave narratives, firsthand accounts of slavery and escapes to freedom during the Civil War, form the backbone of Yale Professor David W. Blight's book. While Blight reads his portion, which puts the narratives in historical context and discusses the lives led by the writers, a different reader takes on each of the narratives. Thus, John M. Washington's story is told in a reflective, eloquent voice, while Wallace Turnage's story dramatically brings home the risks and dangers involved in his escape attempts. The abridgment leaves some repetition between Blight's writing and the slave narratives, and his narration tends toward the scholarly. Nonetheless, the power of the unedited manuscripts is compelling. J.A.S. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine