12 Years a Slave

Written by Solomon Northup

Narrated by Mirron Willis

Solomon Northup was born in the early 1800s in New York, and was born as a free man. He lived as a free man for over 30 years, until he was tricked into moving to Washington, D.C. by men offering him a job as a musician. Once he made it to D.C., he was kidnapped and sold into slavery in Louisiana, where he was forced to work on a plantation until he could make his escape. His family had no way of knowing where he was or if he was safe – he was on his own with no hope of escaping the circumstance.

In this harrowing memoir, Northrup describes the horrific conditions he and the other slaves lived in, the ways they were mistreated by their owners and were forced to mistreat one another, and the difficulty he had making his way out of slavery and back to his family. This tale is bleak, but eye-opening to the plights of slaves in the years leading up to the Civil War.

12 Years a Slave was a fast best-seller when it was published just 8 years before the Civil War, and is an integral text from the time period. This memoir was the basis for the 2013 Oscar-winning film of the same name.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Spotify Audiobooks
• Release date: Feb 23, 2021
• ISBN: 9781662258879

Solomon Northup

Solomon Northup (1808-c. 1863) era un hombre afroamericano libre del estado de Nueva York que en 1841 fue secuestrado y vendido como esclavo en Washington D. C. Trabajó forzosamente en varias plantaciones de Luisiana hasta que fue rescatado en 1853. Poco después de su liberación publicó sus memorias, que tuvieron una gran acogida y reforzaron el abolicionismo, una causa que ya había sido apuntalado el año anterior con la publicación de La cabaña del tío Tom, de Harriet Beecher Stowe, y que habría de desembocar en la Guerra Civil estadounidense. Northup llevó a sus captores ante los tribunales, aunque nunca llegaron a ser procesados. Desde entonces, se desconocen los detalles de su vida, pero se cree que murió en Glens Falls, Nueva York, en torno a 1863.

Reviews for 12 Years a Slave

[John · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Excellent, the voice is the best, the story is so deeply moving

[Cia Leest · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is an amazing story about the atrocities of slavery. Very disturbing. Alas, the narration is over the top from time to time which diminishes its power, in my opinion.