Scholars believe it to be the oldest surviving and the only novel written in 1850 by an African American slave woman - Hannah Crafts. She was a self-educated house slave. This is also most probably the first novel written by a black woman anywhere else in the world. The most exciting fact about this novel is that it was not filtered nor changed through the editorial eyes of a well-meaning but censorial abolitionist. Therefore one tends to drool if one is not a history geek.

Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. edited this book. It is a fictional work describing the life and travels of a mulatto slave woman named Hannah Crafts. She was a slave at the Lindendale Plantation; her chief duties were to serve as a personal maid to the plantation's new mistress. Hannah occupied an exalted position in the slave society due to her light skin color and beautiful face. Considering the fact that Hannah is isolated from being a member of the 'genteel class,' her behavior is always proper and upright. Perhaps that's why she attracts kindness and friendship from those she meets on her journey.

There, in the novel an elderly couple, who live on her master's grounds and open their home and hearts to her, teaching her to read and write and exposing her to the Bible. The plantation's beautiful new mistress has a devastating secret; she decides to flee her home and take Hannah with her. Their odyssey is of a life on the lam, chased by slave hunters and another powerful, determined enemy at their heels. The chief villain in the novel is Mr. Trappe, a lawyer who specializes in exposing black people passing as white. Mr. Trappe discovers Hannah's mistress actually is black and threatens exposure, setting the two women off in an escape attempt. He tracks the two down and Hannah passes through the hands of several masters. Her beautiful mistress dies under the brutal hardships they endure, but Hannah recovers after a long period spent with another kind family and is finally sent away to be a slave to a whimsical, shallow woman whose former lady maid; jealous of Hannah's position, poisons the mistress's heart against her. Hannah is forced to flee after her mistress spitefully decides she is to marry an older, uncouth, vulgar slave who works in the fields. Unable to bear the injustice, she escapes. Through the tumultuous years of excruciating hard labor, ill treatment, cruelties and grief, Hannah retains her sanity, her integrity, her courage, her hopes, and her resolution of seeing the positive.

The most compelling textual evidence of the manuscript's authenticity is how Crafts treats her African American characters. Professor Gates did not rely solely on textual references in his claim of authenticity. He consulted Dr. Joe Nickell, "an investigator and historical-document examiner" who perused the handwriting, historical references, and type of ink, punctuation, and other factors before concluding that the manuscript was probably produced between 1853 and 1861. A fugitive slave-Hannah Crafts, the author of the book was illiterate. Professor Gates chose to leave the writing as intact as possible. There are small tradeoffs for the opportunity to read an unedited and unfiltered view of slavery as put forth by a true autodidact. The novel gives a view of life in the past. It is a valuable historical document that reveals the sad, humiliating, fearful and painful lives of slaves who suffered untold indignities inflicted by their cruel, indifferent owners. The fact that it offers a glimpse into a shameful part of American history by a voice never before heard makes for an unforgettable reading experience.

Keywords : A Bond Woman's Narrative, Hannah Crafts, Literature, Term Paper

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