Reviews

The Elizabeth Keckley Reader, a magnificent collection of creative and scholarly works, examines and honors the heroic life of a courageous and defiant African American woman who overcame slavery, economic privation, and brutal physical punishment to free herself, own her being, speak with her own voice, and lead an independent life as entrepreneur, educator, and civic leader. Elizabeth Keckley's remarkable autobiography reveals the anguished connection between black and white lives in nineteenth-century America with focus on her uncommon relationship with President Abraham Lincoln's wife, Mary Todd Lincoln. This evocative and erudite collection speaks to women everywhere for it lays bare the soul of an unforgettable woman whose indomitable spirit caused her to rise again and again to face whatever comes, to take the journey, to show the way, and to make her contribution to life and to history.--Barbara Paul-Emile, PhD, Maurice E. Goldman Distinguished Professor of Arts and Sciences, Professor of English, Bentley University The writer has produced the first of her two-part work on Elizabeth Keckley, resulting in a compelling account of a strong and determined slave girl whose contributions in later life sealed her legacy. As Sheila Smith McKoy notes, Keckley refused to be "erased" from history and became an entrepreneur of enduring fame. She also takes her place among the nineteenth-century black women writers of acclaim.--Jessie Carney Smith, Dean of the Library and Camille Cosby Distinguished Chair in the Humanities, Fisk University Presented in a series of two volumes, the Elizabeth Keckley Reader breaks new ground in recovering late nineteenth-century texts and contexts, and promotes literary historical inquiry by way of essays, poetry, and drama contributed by an impressive group of scholars. Indeed, the Keckley Reader is an innovative project, a crucial contribution to ongoing studies of African American autobiographical acts and American culture.--Jerry W. Ward Jr., author of The Katrina Papers: A Journal of Trauma and Recovery, Trouble the Water, Black Southern Voices, and The Richard Wright Encyclopedia