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Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom
Goodreads Choice Award
Nominee for Readers' Favorite History & Biography (2023)New York Times Bestseller | New York Times 10 Best Books of 2023
The remarkable true story of Ellen and William Craft, who escaped slavery through daring, determination, and disguise, with Ellen passing as a wealthy, disabled White man and William posing as “his” slave.
In 1848, a year of international democratic revolt, a young, enslaved couple, Ellen and William Craft, achieved one of the boldest feats of self-emancipation in American history. Posing as master and slave, while sustained by their love as husband and wife, they made their escape together across more than 1,000 miles, riding out in the open on steamboats, carriages, and trains that took them from bondage in Georgia to the free states of the North.
Along the way, they dodged slave traders, military officers, and even friends of their enslavers, who might have revealed their true identities. The tale of their adventure soon made them celebrities, and generated headlines around the country. Americans could not get enough of this charismatic young couple, who traveled another 1,000 miles criss-crossing New England, drawing thunderous applause as they spoke alongside some of the greatest abolitionist luminaries of the day—among them Frederick Douglass and William Wells Brown.
But even then, they were not out of danger. With the passage of an infamous new Fugitive Slave Act in 1850, all Americans became accountable for returning refugees like the Crafts to slavery. Then yet another adventure began, as slave hunters came up from Georgia, forcing the Crafts to flee once again—this time from the United States, their lives and thousands more on the line and the stakes never higher.
With three epic journeys compressed into one monumental bid for freedom, Master Slave Husband Wife is an American love story—one that would challenge the nation’s core precepts of life, liberty, and justice for all—one that challenges us even now.
The remarkable true story of Ellen and William Craft, who escaped slavery through daring, determination, and disguise, with Ellen passing as a wealthy, disabled White man and William posing as “his” slave.
In 1848, a year of international democratic revolt, a young, enslaved couple, Ellen and William Craft, achieved one of the boldest feats of self-emancipation in American history. Posing as master and slave, while sustained by their love as husband and wife, they made their escape together across more than 1,000 miles, riding out in the open on steamboats, carriages, and trains that took them from bondage in Georgia to the free states of the North.
Along the way, they dodged slave traders, military officers, and even friends of their enslavers, who might have revealed their true identities. The tale of their adventure soon made them celebrities, and generated headlines around the country. Americans could not get enough of this charismatic young couple, who traveled another 1,000 miles criss-crossing New England, drawing thunderous applause as they spoke alongside some of the greatest abolitionist luminaries of the day—among them Frederick Douglass and William Wells Brown.
But even then, they were not out of danger. With the passage of an infamous new Fugitive Slave Act in 1850, all Americans became accountable for returning refugees like the Crafts to slavery. Then yet another adventure began, as slave hunters came up from Georgia, forcing the Crafts to flee once again—this time from the United States, their lives and thousands more on the line and the stakes never higher.
With three epic journeys compressed into one monumental bid for freedom, Master Slave Husband Wife is an American love story—one that would challenge the nation’s core precepts of life, liberty, and justice for all—one that challenges us even now.
416 pages, Hardcover
First published January 17, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 2,593 reviews
June 6, 2023
Once again, we encounter the publishing gap between what’s promised and what’s delivered.
First, what an amazing and exciting journey! A wife who can pass for a wealthy White man, a husband who portrays her slave, deceiving scores of Southern characters on the thousand-mile adventure to freedom. The author provides wondrous detail, right down to what each fugitive was thinking, to what they were wearing that day, to how she earned help from men with no idea who she was. When they landed in Philadelphia, I nearly cheered out loud.
But at that moment, I was confused. I was not quite at the halfway point of the book. What would happen next? That’s when the work turned very, very dry. There’s a very LONG discussion of the political context of the time. Helpful, yes, but I felt that short synopses would have sufficed. Also, we received long biographies of the political and social actors of the time, when a paragraph would’ve been enough. For me, it really bogs down on the lecture circuit. We got heavy description on what happened at every single stop, and for someone who wasn’t there, it was something I didn’t need.
It picks up a bit with the Compromise of 1850, with the renewed enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act, and with the Crafts’ efforts to evade their slave hunters in Boston. I also enjoyed learning about the abolition movement: what different sectors thought, what happened in the cities, and the leadership of Douglass and Garrison, among others. But I thought the conclusion should have been much shorter. We get another biography of a prominent woman in England whose connection with the Crafts I just didn’t understand. We learn a lot about other characters and their own lectures whose connection seemed tenuous at best. There were some chapters where the Crafts were hardly mentioned at all.
Maybe the problem is that this gets billed as something of an adventure, when it’s just an interesting historical note. The lives of the Crafts get stretched out, which is not to say they’re not fascinating people, but I call this “ham sandwich” biography. Nice to learn about someone, but do I really need to know that they had a ham sandwich with honey mustard and Swiss on rye bread (milled on a hundred year-old farm in Kentucky) on August 14, 1851? Could this have been an interesting article or a much shorter book, eschewing some of the hefty historical exposition in favor of a sleek, perilous tale of escaping slavery? Well, not my call, but I’d have liked it better in a more compressed form.
Very academic writing of an extraordinary, long-forgotten journey to freedom.
First, what an amazing and exciting journey! A wife who can pass for a wealthy White man, a husband who portrays her slave, deceiving scores of Southern characters on the thousand-mile adventure to freedom. The author provides wondrous detail, right down to what each fugitive was thinking, to what they were wearing that day, to how she earned help from men with no idea who she was. When they landed in Philadelphia, I nearly cheered out loud.
But at that moment, I was confused. I was not quite at the halfway point of the book. What would happen next? That’s when the work turned very, very dry. There’s a very LONG discussion of the political context of the time. Helpful, yes, but I felt that short synopses would have sufficed. Also, we received long biographies of the political and social actors of the time, when a paragraph would’ve been enough. For me, it really bogs down on the lecture circuit. We got heavy description on what happened at every single stop, and for someone who wasn’t there, it was something I didn’t need.
It picks up a bit with the Compromise of 1850, with the renewed enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act, and with the Crafts’ efforts to evade their slave hunters in Boston. I also enjoyed learning about the abolition movement: what different sectors thought, what happened in the cities, and the leadership of Douglass and Garrison, among others. But I thought the conclusion should have been much shorter. We get another biography of a prominent woman in England whose connection with the Crafts I just didn’t understand. We learn a lot about other characters and their own lectures whose connection seemed tenuous at best. There were some chapters where the Crafts were hardly mentioned at all.
Maybe the problem is that this gets billed as something of an adventure, when it’s just an interesting historical note. The lives of the Crafts get stretched out, which is not to say they’re not fascinating people, but I call this “ham sandwich” biography. Nice to learn about someone, but do I really need to know that they had a ham sandwich with honey mustard and Swiss on rye bread (milled on a hundred year-old farm in Kentucky) on August 14, 1851? Could this have been an interesting article or a much shorter book, eschewing some of the hefty historical exposition in favor of a sleek, perilous tale of escaping slavery? Well, not my call, but I’d have liked it better in a more compressed form.
Very academic writing of an extraordinary, long-forgotten journey to freedom.
March 8, 2023
("Ellen and William Craft, fugitive slaves, abolitionist", The Liberator newspaper files)
"I fled from them because they would not give me my rights as a human being,” ~Ellen Craft
What a remarkable story about two remarkable people. Ellen and William Craft began their lives as enslaved people but were determined to find freedom.
They had an ingenious idea to escape to the North: Ellen, who could pass as white due to her father also being her enslaver, dressed as a young, sickly white man. Her future husband William played the role of her slave.
Together they made their way north on a journey that was fraught with danger as they could be discovered at any time. If caught, they not only would be returned to their enslavers, but would endure horrendous torture as punishment.
The courage it must have taken them to set out on this journey to freedom is impressive to say the least.
Ellen and William were not safe once they reached the northern states either, especially after the Fugitive Slave Act was passed in 1850 (the two escaped in 1848). Now, all Americans, including in the Northern states, were responsible for catching and returning escaped slaves to their enslavers in the South.
Thankfully for the couple, they had many white supporters who defied this law and also helped them escape to England. They ironically noted how they had escaped from the supposed Land of the Free.
I could not help but wonder though, how many of these white supporters would have been on their side, or fought as diligently for them as they did, had Ellen not passed as white.
Through their words, one sees that at least some people were bothered by her having been a slave because she looked like them. It seemed many of them weren't as bothered about William, who was dark skinned, having been enslaved.
Even among Abolitionists, racism was rampant. In the words of one pastor-turned-activist, "Ellen Craft… is a woman who may be called beautiful; she has no trace of African blood discernible in her features, eyes, cheeks, nose, or hair".
At least this man went on to point out, that it was "no worse or wickeder" for this white-looking woman to be enslaved than it was for "the blackest woman that ever was", while noting the prejudice displayed by whites who were "a thousand times more deeply" bothered by a white-passing woman being enslaved than a dark-skinned woman.
This is an incredible story and one that had me holding my breath at times, terrified Ellen and William would be caught. It had me cheering when they were finally safe. It had me furious at the injustices they endured. It had me marveling at the strength, bravery, and determination of these two people to find a life of freedom where they could have children who would not know the terror and suffering they had known as enslaved human beings.
There is a photograph section at the end of the book that I enjoyed seeing, though I wish there were more photos of the Crafts available. Thankfully though, at least there are the one shown at the top of this review, and this one of Ellen in disguise as a young white man, during their escape:
(Image: "Ellen Craft escaped slave" from "The Underground Railroad from Slavery to Freedom" by Wilbur Henry Siebert, 1898.)
I highly recommend this book. It's a story that should be more well known and I'm thankful for the chance to read about these amazing people and their courage and fortitude in finding freedom.
November 23, 2022
I first heard the Crafts’ story as a student in American History class in a South Carolina high school. My teacher shared how the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 was first tested with a couple in Boston who recently escaped slavery. Mass protests made a mockery of the enslavers’ efforts, the Crafts eluded capture by escaping, and the slave-catchers returned to Georgia empty-handed. I remember that the story seemed more complicated than that, but even then, I did not pick up the nuances. Twenty-five years later, I reencountered the Crafts in Woo’s biography, and I learned their full story. Boy, I am grateful that I did so because it enlightened, entertained, and inspired me in many ways.
William and Ellen Craft were born as enslaved people in early nineteenth-century Georgia. They met in Macon as adults. Ellen is nearly white in complexion, but by the “one-drop rule,” having one black parent made her black. By Georgia law, she was “owned” by her father. Both William and Ellen became skilled artisans, but earned money only for their “masters.” After falling in love, they plotted their escape. Ellen, a skilled seamstress, would dress as a privileged white man and leave Macon on a train, with William in tow appearing as her slave.
They went from Macon, to Savannah, Charleston, Baltimore, and eventually Philadelphia, with many humorous yet frightening experiences along the way. They eventually ended up on the lecture circuit across New England in the late 1840s before settling in Boston. In the US Congress, the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was formulated as a compromise between North and South. By federal law, Northern states would now have to allow slave-catchers freedom to re-enslave their “property.” The Crafts would be the first test case of Northern will.
In Boston, a mob of free blacks, many with arms and sworn to fight to the death, encountered these Southern slave-catchers. After several days of getting the run-around, the hunters returned to Georgia unsuccessfully while the Crafts fled to Canada en route to Liverpool, England. They toured England on the lecture circuit, were formally educated how to read and write, and started a family. They continued to speak out against slavery and celebrated its ending in America in the 1860s.
Kudos to Woo for revamping this story for the reading public! Anyone sympathetic to the human plight for freedom will find themselves in this book, especially students of history. Those engaged in professions of history, especially on the Eastern seaboard, will benefit from understanding how the culture of the original 13 colonies formed itself in America’s early years. We’ve been recently reminded that American history isn’t as far past as we might like to think, and this book can teach us how human ignorance and national politics can imprison us all. Thus, this book can help convey a sense of social justice in our present and future. Ellen and William Craft form noble – but sometimes tragic – heroes with creative, unique, entertaining stories. Their stories need to be known more widely, and Woo is a more-than-suitable translator for us today.
William and Ellen Craft were born as enslaved people in early nineteenth-century Georgia. They met in Macon as adults. Ellen is nearly white in complexion, but by the “one-drop rule,” having one black parent made her black. By Georgia law, she was “owned” by her father. Both William and Ellen became skilled artisans, but earned money only for their “masters.” After falling in love, they plotted their escape. Ellen, a skilled seamstress, would dress as a privileged white man and leave Macon on a train, with William in tow appearing as her slave.
They went from Macon, to Savannah, Charleston, Baltimore, and eventually Philadelphia, with many humorous yet frightening experiences along the way. They eventually ended up on the lecture circuit across New England in the late 1840s before settling in Boston. In the US Congress, the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was formulated as a compromise between North and South. By federal law, Northern states would now have to allow slave-catchers freedom to re-enslave their “property.” The Crafts would be the first test case of Northern will.
In Boston, a mob of free blacks, many with arms and sworn to fight to the death, encountered these Southern slave-catchers. After several days of getting the run-around, the hunters returned to Georgia unsuccessfully while the Crafts fled to Canada en route to Liverpool, England. They toured England on the lecture circuit, were formally educated how to read and write, and started a family. They continued to speak out against slavery and celebrated its ending in America in the 1860s.
Kudos to Woo for revamping this story for the reading public! Anyone sympathetic to the human plight for freedom will find themselves in this book, especially students of history. Those engaged in professions of history, especially on the Eastern seaboard, will benefit from understanding how the culture of the original 13 colonies formed itself in America’s early years. We’ve been recently reminded that American history isn’t as far past as we might like to think, and this book can teach us how human ignorance and national politics can imprison us all. Thus, this book can help convey a sense of social justice in our present and future. Ellen and William Craft form noble – but sometimes tragic – heroes with creative, unique, entertaining stories. Their stories need to be known more widely, and Woo is a more-than-suitable translator for us today.
January 15, 2024
An astonishing story that I've never heard of, Master Slave Husband Wife tells of William and Ellen Craft. They are a couple who were enslaved in Macon, Georgia by different enslavers, but who met and fell in love and determined to flee. Ellen, a seamstress, and William, a woodworker, were intelligent, talented and lived separately in their own cabin in the plantation of Ellen's owner. William was able to keep a tiny portion of his wages as a cabinet maker. Thus, they were able to secrete the clothes that Ellen made and boots, they bought, to disguise herself as a man. She was very pale in complexion, from the fact that her father was indeed white and her enslaver.
William, was to play the part of the young "gentleman's" personal enslaved servant. The story of their ingenious and brave escape is only the first part. Their life on the run in Boston, always one step ahead of The Fugitive Slave Act follows, as does their life in England and Scotland later on. Their lives were always lived on the knife edge as persons of color. Even, their Abolitionist friends could turn traitor in some instances. Their lives were not easy, but they were successful in living it on their own terms and living free.
William, was to play the part of the young "gentleman's" personal enslaved servant. The story of their ingenious and brave escape is only the first part. Their life on the run in Boston, always one step ahead of The Fugitive Slave Act follows, as does their life in England and Scotland later on. Their lives were always lived on the knife edge as persons of color. Even, their Abolitionist friends could turn traitor in some instances. Their lives were not easy, but they were successful in living it on their own terms and living free.
March 1, 2023
Somehow the author took what should have been an exciting and riveting story and made it dull and dry. One star for all the research that went into it.
August 8, 2024
Incredible research and detail. A real stunner as far as telling a story that is lesser known in US history. Some of the writing verged on corny in places. I enjoyed over all the scope and detail and was impressed by all the connections that author found and how she explained so much of US history through the Crafts.
February 3, 2023
Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom
By Ilyon Woo
This is a true story and follows the couple from their idea to death. What a story! I had never heard of the Crafts before. During my school age period, it was whitewashed as much as the Republicans are trying to make it now.
This is Ellen and William Craft. Slaves in Georgia. A daring escape with Ellen dressing as a young white man of wealth but disabled. William as a pampered slave. Ellen was 3/4 white and could easily pass as white.
I listened to the audio version from the library and looked up the photo Ellen took of her disguise without putting her arm in the sling with the wrapping and without the face wrap/bandages. She had scars on her arm and face so she had to hide them so this became part of her disguise. She couldn't write either so when she was asked to write her name to board the train, she would ask someone to sign for her since she couldn't write with the "injury". Many were glad to help the kind young man with the disabilities.
The many famous people they met! The places they traveled to! Very fascinating! Very brave couple.
By Ilyon Woo
This is a true story and follows the couple from their idea to death. What a story! I had never heard of the Crafts before. During my school age period, it was whitewashed as much as the Republicans are trying to make it now.
This is Ellen and William Craft. Slaves in Georgia. A daring escape with Ellen dressing as a young white man of wealth but disabled. William as a pampered slave. Ellen was 3/4 white and could easily pass as white.
I listened to the audio version from the library and looked up the photo Ellen took of her disguise without putting her arm in the sling with the wrapping and without the face wrap/bandages. She had scars on her arm and face so she had to hide them so this became part of her disguise. She couldn't write either so when she was asked to write her name to board the train, she would ask someone to sign for her since she couldn't write with the "injury". Many were glad to help the kind young man with the disabilities.
The many famous people they met! The places they traveled to! Very fascinating! Very brave couple.
February 24, 2023
I would have enjoyed this more as a novel/story based on a true story, as i feel the story could have been riveting but this presentation was very dry.
February 2, 2024
I rarely read nonfiction, but if more of it was as lively and entertaining as this, I'd probably read a lot more of it.
Not at all surprised to learn that author Ilyon Woo has a PhD in English, because she writes history with a literary flair that reads more like an absorbing suspense novel than an academic textbook.
Woo shares the extraordinary but tragically little-known story of Ellen and William Craft, a young enslaved couple who made their bold and perilous journey of escape to the North with the fair-complected Ellen disguised as an affluent, ailing young white bachelor, and her husband William playing the part of the sickly young man's dutiful slave.
It's an epic story that is by turns terrifying, suspenseful, shocking, and occasionally even laugh-out-loud funny. For example, when a couple of single young white women become smitten with their beautiful and mysterious male traveling companion and would-be suitor, little suspecting he's really a "she," and a Black female fugitive at that, her handsome, amused husband watching this twisted comedy of errors unfold from just a few feet away.
But this rousing story of courageous escape is just a relatively small part of the story, as Woo eventually steps back to tell a broader story about the Abolitionist movement - the various political factions and feuds within it, and its varying degrees of resistance and revolution in the volatile decade leading up to the Civil War.
Along the way, I enjoyed meeting other vibrant and memorable supporting characters that I knew very little about before now: brave Black activists like William Wells Brown and Lewis and Harriet Hayden, as well as White allies like the radical preacher Theodore Parker and British author Harriet Martineau, who risked their lives, careers, and social reputations for their Black friends and the antislavery cause.
Drawing from a vast collection of primary and secondary sources that includes letters, speeches, diaries, newspaper articles, and the Crafts' own published account of their harrowing escape, Woo weaves together a robustly researched, expertly paced, endlessly fascinating, and truly inspiring story of innovation and improvisation, community activism and civil disobedience, female empowerment and deep religious faith. But most of all, it’s an unconventional love story between two extraordinary people who upended social roles and expectations at every turn.
I hope this will be taught in high school and college classrooms all across the country, at least while teaching honest American history still remains legal.
And I'd be shocked if somebody hasn't already snatched up the rights in the hopes of turning this into a blockbuster movie, maybe starring Zendaya and Trevante Rhodes as Ellen and William? Colman Domingo as the charismatic William Wells Brown? I'll be there on Opening Night with my popcorn in hand.
Not at all surprised to learn that author Ilyon Woo has a PhD in English, because she writes history with a literary flair that reads more like an absorbing suspense novel than an academic textbook.
Woo shares the extraordinary but tragically little-known story of Ellen and William Craft, a young enslaved couple who made their bold and perilous journey of escape to the North with the fair-complected Ellen disguised as an affluent, ailing young white bachelor, and her husband William playing the part of the sickly young man's dutiful slave.
It's an epic story that is by turns terrifying, suspenseful, shocking, and occasionally even laugh-out-loud funny. For example, when a couple of single young white women become smitten with their beautiful and mysterious male traveling companion and would-be suitor, little suspecting he's really a "she," and a Black female fugitive at that, her handsome, amused husband watching this twisted comedy of errors unfold from just a few feet away.
But this rousing story of courageous escape is just a relatively small part of the story, as Woo eventually steps back to tell a broader story about the Abolitionist movement - the various political factions and feuds within it, and its varying degrees of resistance and revolution in the volatile decade leading up to the Civil War.
Along the way, I enjoyed meeting other vibrant and memorable supporting characters that I knew very little about before now: brave Black activists like William Wells Brown and Lewis and Harriet Hayden, as well as White allies like the radical preacher Theodore Parker and British author Harriet Martineau, who risked their lives, careers, and social reputations for their Black friends and the antislavery cause.
Drawing from a vast collection of primary and secondary sources that includes letters, speeches, diaries, newspaper articles, and the Crafts' own published account of their harrowing escape, Woo weaves together a robustly researched, expertly paced, endlessly fascinating, and truly inspiring story of innovation and improvisation, community activism and civil disobedience, female empowerment and deep religious faith. But most of all, it’s an unconventional love story between two extraordinary people who upended social roles and expectations at every turn.
I hope this will be taught in high school and college classrooms all across the country, at least while teaching honest American history still remains legal.
And I'd be shocked if somebody hasn't already snatched up the rights in the hopes of turning this into a blockbuster movie, maybe starring Zendaya and Trevante Rhodes as Ellen and William? Colman Domingo as the charismatic William Wells Brown? I'll be there on Opening Night with my popcorn in hand.
March 28, 2024
I know lots of people feel that there are too many stories about slavery. I know Black people who flat out refuse to read or watched anything related to slavery. They want other stories of Black history and I want those stories too. But slave narratives and stories about enslaved people are still very important, especially now when lots of white people and politicians want to stop teaching or lie about Black history. Our ancestors deserve for their stories to be told.
Master Slave Husband Wife is about a young enslaved couple Ellen and William Crafts. In 1848 they successfully "stole themselves"(escaped) with Ellen a white passing woman masqueraded as a sickly white man and her darker look husband acted as her slave. They were able to escape to the north and their story made them not only national celebrities but international.
I won't say more about their story but I will say that their escape from slavery is just the beginning of their story. I found this story to be uplifting and action packed but there were also some slow and dry sections. This book isn't just about Ellen and William, it also introduces you to other former slaves who became celebrities through their tales of escape. It also wouldn't be a slavery story without an appearance from Frederick Douglas.
I highly recommend this book but I will say that you should be prepared to deal with some dry parts but overall I really enjoyed this story and it didn't leave me feeling as angry as some slave stories do.
Master Slave Husband Wife is about a young enslaved couple Ellen and William Crafts. In 1848 they successfully "stole themselves"(escaped) with Ellen a white passing woman masqueraded as a sickly white man and her darker look husband acted as her slave. They were able to escape to the north and their story made them not only national celebrities but international.
I won't say more about their story but I will say that their escape from slavery is just the beginning of their story. I found this story to be uplifting and action packed but there were also some slow and dry sections. This book isn't just about Ellen and William, it also introduces you to other former slaves who became celebrities through their tales of escape. It also wouldn't be a slavery story without an appearance from Frederick Douglas.
I highly recommend this book but I will say that you should be prepared to deal with some dry parts but overall I really enjoyed this story and it didn't leave me feeling as angry as some slave stories do.
July 10, 2024
Master Slave Husband Wife is the story of William and Ellen Craft, a husband and wife who escaped slavery in the late 1840s from Macon, GA. The Crafts were seeking safety, freedom, literacy, and a family of their own.
In an effort to help minimize suspicion, Ellen disguised herself as an injured white man, traveling North with her slave, William. Their arrival in Philadelphia and eventual settlement in Boston did not mean instant freedom for the couple. Despite finding assistance and support through others, the Crafts were forced to flee again when men from Georgia came looking for them with the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act. This time, the Crafts left the United States, first heading to Canada on their way to the UK, where they spent nearly 20 years building their life, raising a family, and sharing their story in support of the abolitionist movement.
I did not know of Ellen and William Craft before learning of this book last year. I hated hearing what the Crafts had to endure and can’t imagine the fear they felt heading to New England, in disguise, and again, leaving, as they attempted to build their life of freedom. Master Slave Husband Wife is well-researched and informative, though dry at times. I listened to the audiobook however the physical book was definitely helpful to refer back to.
In an effort to help minimize suspicion, Ellen disguised herself as an injured white man, traveling North with her slave, William. Their arrival in Philadelphia and eventual settlement in Boston did not mean instant freedom for the couple. Despite finding assistance and support through others, the Crafts were forced to flee again when men from Georgia came looking for them with the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act. This time, the Crafts left the United States, first heading to Canada on their way to the UK, where they spent nearly 20 years building their life, raising a family, and sharing their story in support of the abolitionist movement.
I did not know of Ellen and William Craft before learning of this book last year. I hated hearing what the Crafts had to endure and can’t imagine the fear they felt heading to New England, in disguise, and again, leaving, as they attempted to build their life of freedom. Master Slave Husband Wife is well-researched and informative, though dry at times. I listened to the audiobook however the physical book was definitely helpful to refer back to.
February 11, 2023
I've written before about the gaps in my history lessons at school (including college). One such gap is the abolitionist movement prior to the Civil War. This well-written narrative of an enslaved couple escaping from their enslavers does a good job at filling in the gap. Their story is compelling, exciting. and amazing. It would make for a great movie.
January 7, 2025
Grab a favorite beverage and snack. Buckle your seatbelt. This book inspired a bit of a rant after reading one star reviews, this book, along with treasure trove of others. Some mentioned below.
Not my typical review style, sigh, thanks for supporting me if you take a journey down the animated frustration road of the topic.
In case you’d rather not, know I really like the book. Research it required. People. The book is well done. Gave me a fresh perspective of the times and topic.
Answers the question, what is black and white without a clear result. Mostly due to people not having their own answers. Just eye sight, in my opinion.
Now, onto some bucking and bitching 😁
Revolving around a married couples plight, this story, Master Slave Husband Wife, by ILyon Woo, weaves in the many factors to William and Ellen’s success toward freedom.
Rarely is an event leading to slavery’s abolishment successful such as this without the inclusion of factors like the Underground Railroad and many people involved. Either directly or not to include people on both sides being entangled based on location.
Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth are mentioned though briefly due to their lack of notoriety yet for reference to a wider view of the activism at the time. Painting a wide picture along with other influential leaders toward freedom, such as, Frederick Douglass. Multiple times as a part of the life to this harrowing tale of survival. He, as well as the Carter’s prior to marriage following their harrowing escape. Following nuptials, although legality is questionable, but supported by the notion of national building morally is more important than how they’ve been living to this point married in spirit, not legally.
I’ve read many reviews that complain of the focus being less on the couple and more on the movement toward freedom within a complicated system of trafficking humans our government constitution allows at the time including states rights.
It’s easy for someone in the future (today) to compliment or complain about the world of human cruelty and forced servitude told here. Offering a one star review because the story isn’t how they want it to be. More about the couple when losing perspective this is about them while speaking of conditions that contribute. The main thread is William and Ellen’s path to this heroic book.
The reality of the totality of what this world was told based on factual details from relentless research is a marvel in and of itself.
I’m amazed at the wealth of info about the Carter’s amassed to create this epic tale. As a maturing writer and researcher who enjoys genealogy imagine the struggles to compile enough data to weave a life quilt. Enough to satisfy publication and justify readership.
As far as I’m concerned the story is perfect. The tale important. This couple triggered changes and conversations on the story telling circuit contributed to changing out nations.
Having participated in storytelling events could visualize everyone sharing the details to communities around the world to rally support. Today, these are afterthoughts. If we do not have authors who commit to these publications the historical value is lost forever. Not just several generations. Such as the case here.
We must never forget. First, we must know. How else but by the effort of people like Ms. Woo.
Having read countless accounts on this topic as far back as childhood relating to slavery and mistreatments of people via studying Man’s Inhumanity to Man in school like my current read, Jonathan Freedland’s The Escape Artist: the man who broke out of Aschwitz to warn the world. This author talks about why he wrote the story in the prologue. These artifacts of humanity must be remembered. In the case of Woo and Freedland, they are both correct.
It amazes me how many stories must be lost. Especially during slavery. Books like Four Hundred Souls nails it. Sharing pieces like the first ships to arrive to America were very different. One filled with people’s who’s names were noted in the ships log. The other, nameless cargo of African slaves listed without identity in the early 1600’s.
This reminds me of Irish slaves being kept and transported though very little is known about them. Until recently I was not aware, either.
Master Slave Husband Wife is a story about a period of time in our world. Not just america but international. Not just slave owners revealed. But how the trade provided for people in free states, sugar, cotton for material, etc.
This story is about more than a husband and his wife. It’s representative of a plight toward a different society we benefit from today.
One obvious fact mentioned on different occasions for other freed peoples is the they were offspring of a slave owner providing dna displaying as more white than black is what triggered many toward being aghast about Ellen’s position. Seeing these are just as much alike people of little melatonin considered white. Seeing themselves in those held captive is what pushed further the end to slavery.
Making me think, the rape of women becoming a blessing toward ending slavery sickens me inside. Thankful at the same time. Being a faith based person struggle with this believing good comes from evil and appreciate Ellen and William’s fortitude to pray and believe. Though, Ellen’s birth from her mother’s rape … and the sex industry maintained using slavery to proposer humans for cruel and horrid greed is an abomination to humanity.
If you are expecting this story to be focused only on a couple may be disappointed. If you are hoping for a harrowing tale of a couple who find freedom. Change the world. Meeting many who played a roll through documentation and as the author admits some creative conveyance as required to help the story move may really enjoy these historically researched experiences.
Writing this story requires piecing together a puzzle. Which includes many different parts. From news articles to stories handed down generations. Though the couple did not like to talk much about their past, enough was shared including historical moments, such as news articles, involving the couple this book could exist.
I think the lower reviewers do not realize this is not a typical journey. They are use to reading a fiction story or different style of author. Watching the made for TV event. Which I’m guessing will no doubt focus on the couple more.
Makes me reflect on the book Kindred compared to the Hulu series. My preference is the book. With an understanding the recreation of mystical realism is a challenge though doubt the producers of MSHW will experience similar issues. As I’m imagining they will trim the historical research as it is extensive and weave the focal characters into the made for screen version.
I would like to see the painting of Ellen in her disguise at the end. Other than this, am prepared to experience a different story. Though in my heart relate and will remember the immense work it took to find all the research. Bravo Ms. Woo. I too am a research hound and appreciate your ability.
The point, for me, is based on storytelling events to convey what it took to alleviate the nation of slavery. This couple was one of many catalysts.
Their unique journey is not the only one including a couple portraying themselves as a master and slave. Though the rarity mixed with notoriety is what gave the author a seed with an enormous trail of documentation because at the time this instance was such a unique anomaly for a couple to make it this far. From this grew a forest. Each tree telling its perspective into this wonderfully written book, in my opinion.
Hoping anyone seeing this review might be gentler in their criticism when reading the text. Point of view is only as qualified as the experience and imagination of the holder.
Mine includes a great grandfather considered less than even the “negro” for his heritage as an Italian immigrant. Americanizing his name to eventually attempting to hide in the census.
Only finding out about this a handful of years ago realize at some point someone voted to make me white. In my view, as an attempt to further suppress people of color. As I would be if someone had not waved their pen, meaning signed into law or rule, likely a man as women did not hold office back then, to make my grandmother feel shame for her roots.
To the one star reviewers, at the end of the book the author notes all the ways the facts were recovered to preserve the Craft’s history.
This in turn filled in gaps in documentation from the couple who did not speak of some information. Though these gaps are tillable based on a treasure trove of research since this couple was so well known for their plight.
If you are looking for a narrow minded story this will not be for you. This book is about the couples many neurons or unique experiences like tethers to this time period. What made them noticed is their journey and all that were impacted.
Certain you would get a more narrow focus on a movie or mini series. Not so in this epic tale I thoroughly enjoyed.
The struggle these two endured for freedom could be its own college or highschool course. Weaving in the many factors as branches to the tree of the 1800’s slave struggle from the north and south.
If you hope to learn about this couple throughout the journey will endure the many name drops like Fredrick Douglas who was on the story telling tour circuit to help end slavery at the same time.
Having extensively read and studied him and others within this time period find it enthralling to learn a new story I had never heard before. Found myself on the edge of my seat at times unsure if the couple would survive.
I wanted more at each turn.
Legally married (read to find out how and the significance of this forbidden love. Highly recommend Betty DeRamus’s Forbidden Fruit: Love Stories from the Underground Railroad to understand the depth of the significance of William’s and Ellen’s vows supported by those helping them escape) and fugitives the couple William and Ellen Craft with the help of many people are the pinnacle of a society that longs for two ends. Slavery being maintained and denying the bondage of humans. In this case not due to the color of their skin, as one passes for what was decidedly white and another marked by increased melatonin.
For the one star reviewers to miss the distinguishable story of freedom capped by this unique couples plight. Taken on by society as a marker toward freedom for all or die trying makes me wonder how much exposure they have had to the entirety of the subject at hand.
The story is about a movement toward freedom. This unique circumstance of a couple is the marker moved as the conjecture thickens. States verses federal rights.
Funny how much today is a reflection of then. Just different names.
My great grandfather was an Italian immigrant in the early 1900’s. He Americanized his name to appear white. While mass lynchings of Italians across the country were condoned by the president and politicians.
How does Giovanni di Filippi become John Phillips? A lie I’d only learned about in recent years when I could not find any genealogical info. A family friend from the 70’s met recently told me. Though I knew I had Italian heritage for about a decade did not know to ask more questions before my father died. Having uncovered info while researching people gave me the questions too late.
Who made my people white?
This is not about skin color. This is about racial injustice as one of the two within this couple resembles her white slave owning rapist father or how else could they have escaped?
This is about more than skin color or this couple. Based on the witness accounts I dare say, had we not had a white resembling person I doubt it would have gleaned as much notoriety.
People see color. Not people. This is a seed within the story for me.
An interesting fact, how without social media this couples movement was reported. Which makes it easy to track and become this very story.
Seeing how our government treated people like Irish, Negro’s, “foreigners”. How much our current day resembles over a hundred years ago proves our composted lives as a nation have remained mixed and similar all at once. Simply different nationalities.
Appreciate if you have read this far. Typically, my review motive is non-partisan … for me means no affiliated with one group or another.
Example, who created the Klu Klux Klan? Democrats. Was Lincoln a Republican? Nope, and he ran with a democrat. Who actually voted on the Supreme Court to approve Abortion rights in the 70’s? All republicans and one democrat. The other two said no.
I use these examples of why I do not subscribe to one side or the other.
Our country has a long standing tradition to support BS. Flip sides. Back and forth. Or stand their ground and fight for a position that is utter crap. As a veteran see it in a different way than civilians. Meaning, me, you, everyone is influenced by experiences.
Those people who fear whatever the narrative is are the biggest components to how Italian’s were hung. Native peoples except Meskwaki were plopped on reservations. Fun fact: the Meskwaki people live on a settlement, meaning they own the land and it is a separate nation. Though does follow federal and state laws has its own, too. Long story. Fun research. As for Irish and African who came her initially as servants who worked off passage on a ship then form towns. Only to be segregated by the creation of race in the 1600’s. Hundreds of years later and we are barely ahead. We are more divided than ever.
Hearing this story from the spectacular breadth of research along with all the other books, research, and people I have met who shared their stories, felt compelled to share more. Hoping perhaps the information could encourage others to read more. See more. Relate more.
How else are we, the people, of the United States of American, and the world if you’re from over the pond going to create change we need in the world?
This isn’t about what an individual wants. Good grief, it is about humanity to man.
I see a lot of the politics of the 1800’s reflected in today. Masked in some other policy or value. Saddened and empowered.
What I know for sure, Peace in oneself. Peace in the world. This is the only control I actually have.
Anyone ever said in response to the idea they want world peace how on earth they could make this happen?
Me, literacy with stories like this. Understanding people for where they are. Creating peace in myself and the circle of influence I have control over. Expand outward all around me. This is my answer.
What’s yours?
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💯
Not my typical review style, sigh, thanks for supporting me if you take a journey down the animated frustration road of the topic.
In case you’d rather not, know I really like the book. Research it required. People. The book is well done. Gave me a fresh perspective of the times and topic.
Answers the question, what is black and white without a clear result. Mostly due to people not having their own answers. Just eye sight, in my opinion.
Now, onto some bucking and bitching 😁
Revolving around a married couples plight, this story, Master Slave Husband Wife, by ILyon Woo, weaves in the many factors to William and Ellen’s success toward freedom.
Rarely is an event leading to slavery’s abolishment successful such as this without the inclusion of factors like the Underground Railroad and many people involved. Either directly or not to include people on both sides being entangled based on location.
Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth are mentioned though briefly due to their lack of notoriety yet for reference to a wider view of the activism at the time. Painting a wide picture along with other influential leaders toward freedom, such as, Frederick Douglass. Multiple times as a part of the life to this harrowing tale of survival. He, as well as the Carter’s prior to marriage following their harrowing escape. Following nuptials, although legality is questionable, but supported by the notion of national building morally is more important than how they’ve been living to this point married in spirit, not legally.
I’ve read many reviews that complain of the focus being less on the couple and more on the movement toward freedom within a complicated system of trafficking humans our government constitution allows at the time including states rights.
It’s easy for someone in the future (today) to compliment or complain about the world of human cruelty and forced servitude told here. Offering a one star review because the story isn’t how they want it to be. More about the couple when losing perspective this is about them while speaking of conditions that contribute. The main thread is William and Ellen’s path to this heroic book.
The reality of the totality of what this world was told based on factual details from relentless research is a marvel in and of itself.
I’m amazed at the wealth of info about the Carter’s amassed to create this epic tale. As a maturing writer and researcher who enjoys genealogy imagine the struggles to compile enough data to weave a life quilt. Enough to satisfy publication and justify readership.
As far as I’m concerned the story is perfect. The tale important. This couple triggered changes and conversations on the story telling circuit contributed to changing out nations.
Having participated in storytelling events could visualize everyone sharing the details to communities around the world to rally support. Today, these are afterthoughts. If we do not have authors who commit to these publications the historical value is lost forever. Not just several generations. Such as the case here.
We must never forget. First, we must know. How else but by the effort of people like Ms. Woo.
Having read countless accounts on this topic as far back as childhood relating to slavery and mistreatments of people via studying Man’s Inhumanity to Man in school like my current read, Jonathan Freedland’s The Escape Artist: the man who broke out of Aschwitz to warn the world. This author talks about why he wrote the story in the prologue. These artifacts of humanity must be remembered. In the case of Woo and Freedland, they are both correct.
It amazes me how many stories must be lost. Especially during slavery. Books like Four Hundred Souls nails it. Sharing pieces like the first ships to arrive to America were very different. One filled with people’s who’s names were noted in the ships log. The other, nameless cargo of African slaves listed without identity in the early 1600’s.
This reminds me of Irish slaves being kept and transported though very little is known about them. Until recently I was not aware, either.
Master Slave Husband Wife is a story about a period of time in our world. Not just america but international. Not just slave owners revealed. But how the trade provided for people in free states, sugar, cotton for material, etc.
This story is about more than a husband and his wife. It’s representative of a plight toward a different society we benefit from today.
One obvious fact mentioned on different occasions for other freed peoples is the they were offspring of a slave owner providing dna displaying as more white than black is what triggered many toward being aghast about Ellen’s position. Seeing these are just as much alike people of little melatonin considered white. Seeing themselves in those held captive is what pushed further the end to slavery.
Making me think, the rape of women becoming a blessing toward ending slavery sickens me inside. Thankful at the same time. Being a faith based person struggle with this believing good comes from evil and appreciate Ellen and William’s fortitude to pray and believe. Though, Ellen’s birth from her mother’s rape … and the sex industry maintained using slavery to proposer humans for cruel and horrid greed is an abomination to humanity.
If you are expecting this story to be focused only on a couple may be disappointed. If you are hoping for a harrowing tale of a couple who find freedom. Change the world. Meeting many who played a roll through documentation and as the author admits some creative conveyance as required to help the story move may really enjoy these historically researched experiences.
Writing this story requires piecing together a puzzle. Which includes many different parts. From news articles to stories handed down generations. Though the couple did not like to talk much about their past, enough was shared including historical moments, such as news articles, involving the couple this book could exist.
I think the lower reviewers do not realize this is not a typical journey. They are use to reading a fiction story or different style of author. Watching the made for TV event. Which I’m guessing will no doubt focus on the couple more.
Makes me reflect on the book Kindred compared to the Hulu series. My preference is the book. With an understanding the recreation of mystical realism is a challenge though doubt the producers of MSHW will experience similar issues. As I’m imagining they will trim the historical research as it is extensive and weave the focal characters into the made for screen version.
I would like to see the painting of Ellen in her disguise at the end. Other than this, am prepared to experience a different story. Though in my heart relate and will remember the immense work it took to find all the research. Bravo Ms. Woo. I too am a research hound and appreciate your ability.
The point, for me, is based on storytelling events to convey what it took to alleviate the nation of slavery. This couple was one of many catalysts.
Their unique journey is not the only one including a couple portraying themselves as a master and slave. Though the rarity mixed with notoriety is what gave the author a seed with an enormous trail of documentation because at the time this instance was such a unique anomaly for a couple to make it this far. From this grew a forest. Each tree telling its perspective into this wonderfully written book, in my opinion.
Hoping anyone seeing this review might be gentler in their criticism when reading the text. Point of view is only as qualified as the experience and imagination of the holder.
Mine includes a great grandfather considered less than even the “negro” for his heritage as an Italian immigrant. Americanizing his name to eventually attempting to hide in the census.
Only finding out about this a handful of years ago realize at some point someone voted to make me white. In my view, as an attempt to further suppress people of color. As I would be if someone had not waved their pen, meaning signed into law or rule, likely a man as women did not hold office back then, to make my grandmother feel shame for her roots.
To the one star reviewers, at the end of the book the author notes all the ways the facts were recovered to preserve the Craft’s history.
This in turn filled in gaps in documentation from the couple who did not speak of some information. Though these gaps are tillable based on a treasure trove of research since this couple was so well known for their plight.
If you are looking for a narrow minded story this will not be for you. This book is about the couples many neurons or unique experiences like tethers to this time period. What made them noticed is their journey and all that were impacted.
Certain you would get a more narrow focus on a movie or mini series. Not so in this epic tale I thoroughly enjoyed.
The struggle these two endured for freedom could be its own college or highschool course. Weaving in the many factors as branches to the tree of the 1800’s slave struggle from the north and south.
If you hope to learn about this couple throughout the journey will endure the many name drops like Fredrick Douglas who was on the story telling tour circuit to help end slavery at the same time.
Having extensively read and studied him and others within this time period find it enthralling to learn a new story I had never heard before. Found myself on the edge of my seat at times unsure if the couple would survive.
I wanted more at each turn.
Legally married (read to find out how and the significance of this forbidden love. Highly recommend Betty DeRamus’s Forbidden Fruit: Love Stories from the Underground Railroad to understand the depth of the significance of William’s and Ellen’s vows supported by those helping them escape) and fugitives the couple William and Ellen Craft with the help of many people are the pinnacle of a society that longs for two ends. Slavery being maintained and denying the bondage of humans. In this case not due to the color of their skin, as one passes for what was decidedly white and another marked by increased melatonin.
For the one star reviewers to miss the distinguishable story of freedom capped by this unique couples plight. Taken on by society as a marker toward freedom for all or die trying makes me wonder how much exposure they have had to the entirety of the subject at hand.
The story is about a movement toward freedom. This unique circumstance of a couple is the marker moved as the conjecture thickens. States verses federal rights.
Funny how much today is a reflection of then. Just different names.
My great grandfather was an Italian immigrant in the early 1900’s. He Americanized his name to appear white. While mass lynchings of Italians across the country were condoned by the president and politicians.
How does Giovanni di Filippi become John Phillips? A lie I’d only learned about in recent years when I could not find any genealogical info. A family friend from the 70’s met recently told me. Though I knew I had Italian heritage for about a decade did not know to ask more questions before my father died. Having uncovered info while researching people gave me the questions too late.
Who made my people white?
This is not about skin color. This is about racial injustice as one of the two within this couple resembles her white slave owning rapist father or how else could they have escaped?
This is about more than skin color or this couple. Based on the witness accounts I dare say, had we not had a white resembling person I doubt it would have gleaned as much notoriety.
People see color. Not people. This is a seed within the story for me.
An interesting fact, how without social media this couples movement was reported. Which makes it easy to track and become this very story.
Seeing how our government treated people like Irish, Negro’s, “foreigners”. How much our current day resembles over a hundred years ago proves our composted lives as a nation have remained mixed and similar all at once. Simply different nationalities.
Appreciate if you have read this far. Typically, my review motive is non-partisan … for me means no affiliated with one group or another.
Example, who created the Klu Klux Klan? Democrats. Was Lincoln a Republican? Nope, and he ran with a democrat. Who actually voted on the Supreme Court to approve Abortion rights in the 70’s? All republicans and one democrat. The other two said no.
I use these examples of why I do not subscribe to one side or the other.
Our country has a long standing tradition to support BS. Flip sides. Back and forth. Or stand their ground and fight for a position that is utter crap. As a veteran see it in a different way than civilians. Meaning, me, you, everyone is influenced by experiences.
Those people who fear whatever the narrative is are the biggest components to how Italian’s were hung. Native peoples except Meskwaki were plopped on reservations. Fun fact: the Meskwaki people live on a settlement, meaning they own the land and it is a separate nation. Though does follow federal and state laws has its own, too. Long story. Fun research. As for Irish and African who came her initially as servants who worked off passage on a ship then form towns. Only to be segregated by the creation of race in the 1600’s. Hundreds of years later and we are barely ahead. We are more divided than ever.
Hearing this story from the spectacular breadth of research along with all the other books, research, and people I have met who shared their stories, felt compelled to share more. Hoping perhaps the information could encourage others to read more. See more. Relate more.
How else are we, the people, of the United States of American, and the world if you’re from over the pond going to create change we need in the world?
This isn’t about what an individual wants. Good grief, it is about humanity to man.
I see a lot of the politics of the 1800’s reflected in today. Masked in some other policy or value. Saddened and empowered.
What I know for sure, Peace in oneself. Peace in the world. This is the only control I actually have.
Anyone ever said in response to the idea they want world peace how on earth they could make this happen?
Me, literacy with stories like this. Understanding people for where they are. Creating peace in myself and the circle of influence I have control over. Expand outward all around me. This is my answer.
What’s yours?
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💯
August 14, 2025
This book about a little known episode in American History is well written and very thoroughly researched. Author lIyon Woo learned about this couple’s story in a class she was taking when she was a graduate student at Columbia University. She was shocked that she had never heard about it before. She decided to write about their incredible story so that it wouldn’t be forgotten.
Ellen and William Craft were slaves in Macon, Georgia in the pre Civil War years. Both had seen their families separated when slavers sold them to other plantations across the South. They very carefully planned an unprecedented escape to the North that was harrowing and extremely dangerous. Ellen was very light skinned and was often mistaken for a white woman. She cut her hair and dressed as a seriously ill young white man. William posed as her man servant. Together they left in the middle of the night on the first passenger train leaving Macon for Philadelphia.
Once they arrived in the North their fears were not alleviated. Additional challenges and threats awaited them - slavers, racist Northerners, and the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act were life threatening challenges. With courage and determination they sought to live their lives as free people.
There is so much information to learn from reading this book, and sometimes it can be a bit overwhelming. There are also quite a few people who interacted with the Crafts and at times that too can be confusing.
But despite those issues, this true story of courage, determination, love, and the will to live life in freedom is unforgettable.
Master Slave Husband Wife was the winner of the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for Biography.
Ellen and William Craft were slaves in Macon, Georgia in the pre Civil War years. Both had seen their families separated when slavers sold them to other plantations across the South. They very carefully planned an unprecedented escape to the North that was harrowing and extremely dangerous. Ellen was very light skinned and was often mistaken for a white woman. She cut her hair and dressed as a seriously ill young white man. William posed as her man servant. Together they left in the middle of the night on the first passenger train leaving Macon for Philadelphia.
Once they arrived in the North their fears were not alleviated. Additional challenges and threats awaited them - slavers, racist Northerners, and the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act were life threatening challenges. With courage and determination they sought to live their lives as free people.
There is so much information to learn from reading this book, and sometimes it can be a bit overwhelming. There are also quite a few people who interacted with the Crafts and at times that too can be confusing.
But despite those issues, this true story of courage, determination, love, and the will to live life in freedom is unforgettable.
Master Slave Husband Wife was the winner of the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for Biography.
March 2, 2023
A riveting read about a formerly enslaved couple who have almost disappeared from history. Despite knowing the ending, be prepared to feel the tension and suspense on how Ellen and William Craft, escaped from the south to freedom in the North. But what's even more interesting, is what happened next as the two entered the lecture circuit, with well known abolitionists to advocate for ending slavery and the constant fear of being captured and forced down south again.
I received an arc from the publisher but all opinions are my own.
ETA: Staff Pick 2/23
I received an arc from the publisher but all opinions are my own.
ETA: Staff Pick 2/23
February 5, 2023
{3.5}
This is the true story of William and Ellen Craft, one that I have never heard about. In 1848, William and Ellen decided to make a daring almost impossible escape from slavery. Ellen, who was 3/4 white, decided to disguise herself as a disabled white man and board a train with her husband (and slave), William.
The Craft’s traveled over 1000 miles from Georgia to the north to secure their freedom. The couple took trains, steamboats and carriages until they finally reached their destination. The Craft’s escape from slavery made major headlines with people cheering them on as well as enemies that wanted them returned to their owners.
This book was very well researched. The beginning did a really good job describing the Crafts and their plan. However, it became over saturated with the history of the time period and less about the Crafts. A host of historical references were thrown in that really took away from the story.
This is the true story of William and Ellen Craft, one that I have never heard about. In 1848, William and Ellen decided to make a daring almost impossible escape from slavery. Ellen, who was 3/4 white, decided to disguise herself as a disabled white man and board a train with her husband (and slave), William.
The Craft’s traveled over 1000 miles from Georgia to the north to secure their freedom. The couple took trains, steamboats and carriages until they finally reached their destination. The Craft’s escape from slavery made major headlines with people cheering them on as well as enemies that wanted them returned to their owners.
This book was very well researched. The beginning did a really good job describing the Crafts and their plan. However, it became over saturated with the history of the time period and less about the Crafts. A host of historical references were thrown in that really took away from the story.
March 24, 2023
Dull. Author got bogged down in so many side stories and history lessons that we lost track of the main storyline. Had to give up.
December 14, 2024
Master Slave Husband Wife by Ilyon Woo is a historical account of Ellen and William Craft, an enslaved couple who risked everything for freedom in the 19th century. Ellen, fair-skinned enough to pass as white, disguised herself as a wealthy male slaveholder, while William posed as her servant. Their escape from Georgia to the North is a tale of love, courage, and resilience. Woo’s research was superb and storytelling illuminates the challenges they faced and their determination. Their fight for freedom is empowering. The book felt like the reader was with them every step of the way. I learned a lot through their plight. There was none of the violence and abuse as there is in other NF books of the plights of slaves. As always I will say life like this was wrong, immoral and one that should have never of existed. Sadly, it continues, in other ways and forms.
February 6, 2023
A compelling, interesting, important story. But I was done in by the “should have” and “could have” and “might have” phrasing. I understand fully that records about the lives of enslaved people are rare (at best) but it bogged down my reading. Still very valuable reading for the lessons and insights.
December 29, 2023
Amazing book. Fascinating story, stupendous research. Woo keeps researching to the very end, looking at the families that came from the union of William and Ellen Craft, uncovering details that make the whole feel very real indeed. The world was in turmoil in 1848, you won’t be surprised to learn. But I wasn’t prepared for how the moment is mirrored in what is happening today: the sharp divides, fake news, screaming denunciations and posted threats.
Ellen and William Craft, two slaves owned by different masters, decided one Christmas that the time was ripe for them to escape to the north using a plan they’d prepared in four days. She would dress as a young man and he would be her manservant slave. She’d had experience traveling with her master and so knew how things outside her plantation worked. He was tall and capable and calm under stress, but their plans were upended more ways than one.
The Crafts were received with warmth by abolitionists in Philadelphia though they were cautious to the point of near-refusing the generosity of a Quaker family, the Ivins: “I have no confidence whatsoever in white people. They are only trying to get us back to slavery,” Ellen later reports. Later, Woo describes the sentiment among escaped slaves that included Frederick Douglass in Boston:
“once back in the States [from England], Douglass had grown increasingly angry, disillusioned, and impatient with American abolitionists, who moved so slowly and too often betrayed their own prejudices, subtle or not. Even some in [social reformer and journalist William Lloyd] Garrison’s closest circle were know to utter racial expletives on occasion.”
Once the Crafts were [safely? no…] on the lecture circuit in New England, I sought out Woo’s own explanation of how she did her research. Several of those interviews are on YouTube and in each, the questions and her answers are slightly different, but one comes away with the sense that the narrative propelled research into the time. The Crafts wrote their own personal histories, but with many pieces that Woo wanted to know missing.
The Craft’s escape from slavery wasn’t that long ago, a fact that continues to horrify me. We’re talking the length of two human lives ago. Crazy. But it’s been as chaotic and tempestuous and argumentative in the United States before now, and what we have learned is that people in general do not change until they are absolutely forced to change. Witness slavery. Witness environmental protection. There will still be breakouts of resistance against change going forward, but gradually we will come to see slavery and environmental degradation as great wrongs.
This story of escape is dense. There is so much Woo is telling us that we did not know that three hundred some-odd pages does not feel too long. We sense the depth of research and know there is more to mine from this story. Context is everything. Woo writes sentences that hint at interesting side trails; she names names in the places the Crafts overnighted. Even though it probably should be self-evident that by the 1848 the antislavery movement was well established, this feels new.
One thing that stuck with me is that Ellen Craft was ‘owned’ by her blood sister when she escaped. In fact, Ellen was gifted to that sister Eliza upon Eliza’s marriage because the wife of Ellen’s father and mistress of the house in which she worked was angry that people kept mistaking Ellen for one of that mistress’ white daughters. She looked so much like the husband…But forever after Ellen Craft would not speak ill of Eliza, her sister by blood and her mistress at the time of her abscondment.
Woo speculates that the names of Ellen and William Craft are not better known because their lives were complicated and had no period of ‘happily ever after.’ Perhaps that is true. Certainly it casts a pall over their American story to know how hard it was for them right to the end, and how one obstacle overcome only showed a higher mountain right behind. But it is also true that in America, white folks do not like to be reminded of times when they relied on the labor of slaves to build their fortunes. That could be a reason their story is not retold in schools and in theatre.
This totally fascinating book well deserves the raining plaudits.
February 19, 2023
Everyone needs to read this book! #educateyourself
October 20, 2024
Ellen and William Craft's story is nothing short of extraordinary. In 1848, this enslaved couple made one of the boldest escapes to freedom by disguising themselves: Ellen as a wealthy, disabled white man and William as "his" enslaved companion. Traveling over 1,000 miles through the South by train and steamboat, they narrowly evaded slave traders and military officers, even crossing paths with people who could've exposed them.
Their journey didn't end with their escape, though. Their story captivated this nation, and they became prominent voices in the abolitionist movement. But the passing of the Fugitive Slave Act in 1850 sent them fleeing once again, this time out of the country and across the pond. Master Slave Husband Wife captures the courage, love, and resilience of this couple as they navigated their fight for freedom and pioneered a new life for themselves.
A book of halves.
First, the five-star half.
To say that this first half was riveting, nail-biting, and edge-of-your-seat would be an apt description. Woo sketched the backstories, the setting, and the dangers with perfect pacing and clarity. But as their escape neared its end, I grew suspicious about what was left to tell and how it would be delivered. If the pacing had remained consistent throughout, making different structural decisions, this would easily have kept its five-star rating. Unfortunately, my suspicions played out.
Second, the remaining two-and-a-half star half.
Once Ellen and William completed their initial harrowing journey, the second half became uneven, with too much focus on secondary and tertiary figures, leaving me increasingly bored. Additionally, as I chose the audiobook, I was baffled by what prompted the narrators' switches. Their alternating didn't mark any shift in perspective, but rather seemed to follow a set schedule, like a classroom reading session where everyone gets a turn regardless of what's on the page. Ultimately, the second half weighed down the experience, and I found myself thinking that readers might be better off enjoying the first half of the book and turning to Wikipedia for the rest.
Their journey didn't end with their escape, though. Their story captivated this nation, and they became prominent voices in the abolitionist movement. But the passing of the Fugitive Slave Act in 1850 sent them fleeing once again, this time out of the country and across the pond. Master Slave Husband Wife captures the courage, love, and resilience of this couple as they navigated their fight for freedom and pioneered a new life for themselves.
A book of halves.
First, the five-star half.
To say that this first half was riveting, nail-biting, and edge-of-your-seat would be an apt description. Woo sketched the backstories, the setting, and the dangers with perfect pacing and clarity. But as their escape neared its end, I grew suspicious about what was left to tell and how it would be delivered. If the pacing had remained consistent throughout, making different structural decisions, this would easily have kept its five-star rating. Unfortunately, my suspicions played out.
Second, the remaining two-and-a-half star half.
Once Ellen and William completed their initial harrowing journey, the second half became uneven, with too much focus on secondary and tertiary figures, leaving me increasingly bored. Additionally, as I chose the audiobook, I was baffled by what prompted the narrators' switches. Their alternating didn't mark any shift in perspective, but rather seemed to follow a set schedule, like a classroom reading session where everyone gets a turn regardless of what's on the page. Ultimately, the second half weighed down the experience, and I found myself thinking that readers might be better off enjoying the first half of the book and turning to Wikipedia for the rest.
May 2, 2023
As a retired history teacher the book spent way too much time on detailed historical information for me. I had hoped for more on the couple. What she did write about them was scattered throughout the book but could have done so in half the pages and historical details. For someone who has not the background I have it may be of more enjoyment.
February 9, 2023
The main storyline changes halfway through the book and the couple is not the focal point as title says. It becomes about the abolitionist movement in USA and Europe.
June 20, 2024
Master Slave Husband Wife is an interesting true tale about a couple who escaped from slavery by pretending to be a feeble slave owner with his slave.
The book is well written and enjoyable and covers a story that most people have not heard about, eventhough it is well documented.
One of the fascinating aspects of the story is that it sounds too good to be true. Two slaves escaping to freedom while taking public transportation in the South? Two slaves who travelled hundreds of miles undetected without the assistance of anybody or the underground railroad?
The primary source for their escape are the slaves own words, newspaper articles reciting those words, and their memoir? While they did get support amongs the Northern Abolitionists, many doubted those words.
I am often dubious of memoirs without much supporting documentation (and since I listened to the audio, I do not know how much was annotated that might have contained this support.)
Which is why I particularly liked the end of the audiobook. The last chapter of the (audio) book, a different voice comes in discussing the historigraphy behind the book. Woo steps forth and explicitly states that some facts are hard to support because all sources track back to the two protagonists. But then she starts talking about specific events within their narrative that coincide with other documented events. For example, a commotion that occurred during their escape at one of their stopping grounds. An event of minor significance that it did not get discussed outside of local news sources, but was included in the memoirs.
Woo provides a synopsis of other events that are claimed, and that only a first hand witness could know, that she's been able to document. She doesn't hide from the fact that the story might be just that---a story. But she also doesn't hide from the fact, that she believes there is more than a kernel of truth within the story that future scholars can attempt to validate.
This self awareness of the contents buys the authors story credence and credibility.
EDIT: Woo also discusses why this story did not garner the national attention that Frederick Douglass and Solomon Northrup or fictional works such as Uncle Tom's Cabin and Ida May. In addition to the source being almost exclusively the two escaped slaves, their escape occured shortly before the Civil War. While they were getting noticed in abolitionist circles, interests in these types of stories dried up in the face of conflict.
The book is well written and enjoyable and covers a story that most people have not heard about, eventhough it is well documented.
One of the fascinating aspects of the story is that it sounds too good to be true. Two slaves escaping to freedom while taking public transportation in the South? Two slaves who travelled hundreds of miles undetected without the assistance of anybody or the underground railroad?
The primary source for their escape are the slaves own words, newspaper articles reciting those words, and their memoir? While they did get support amongs the Northern Abolitionists, many doubted those words.
I am often dubious of memoirs without much supporting documentation (and since I listened to the audio, I do not know how much was annotated that might have contained this support.)
Which is why I particularly liked the end of the audiobook. The last chapter of the (audio) book, a different voice comes in discussing the historigraphy behind the book. Woo steps forth and explicitly states that some facts are hard to support because all sources track back to the two protagonists. But then she starts talking about specific events within their narrative that coincide with other documented events. For example, a commotion that occurred during their escape at one of their stopping grounds. An event of minor significance that it did not get discussed outside of local news sources, but was included in the memoirs.
Woo provides a synopsis of other events that are claimed, and that only a first hand witness could know, that she's been able to document. She doesn't hide from the fact that the story might be just that---a story. But she also doesn't hide from the fact, that she believes there is more than a kernel of truth within the story that future scholars can attempt to validate.
This self awareness of the contents buys the authors story credence and credibility.
EDIT: Woo also discusses why this story did not garner the national attention that Frederick Douglass and Solomon Northrup or fictional works such as Uncle Tom's Cabin and Ida May. In addition to the source being almost exclusively the two escaped slaves, their escape occured shortly before the Civil War. While they were getting noticed in abolitionist circles, interests in these types of stories dried up in the face of conflict.
October 26, 2023
It's a pretty spectacular story: a pair of slaves – one light, the other dark – escaping to the North, her as a wealthy but sickly master, him as her slave. One thousand miles by train, stagecoach, and ship to Philadelphia, then to Boston, Canada, and finally England. They joined other abolitionists, Black and white, on the abolitionists' lecture circuit.
The Crafts' trip to freedom (from the book)
It is a spectacular story, but here it felt bloodless. We learned what they did, what they and others said and in their own words. Still, it did little to inspire, to enlarge the story beyond what most readers already knew, or helped us understand slavers, the enslaved (current or former), or the abolitionists who supported the Crafts or failed to. Ilyon Woo's book was often peopled by characters who were flat. I had difficulty liking or disliking most characters, even Ellen and William Craft.
In part, Woo gave herself a difficult task. She chose to write only about what she knew, using only her characters' own words. I appreciated this, but then she would speculate in the absence of data. William was separated from Ellen for long periods when he went to Africa. Was this mutually agreed upon, reflecting their unconventional relationship, as Woo speculated, or did this reflect or cause marital unrest? She asked us to believe the former, while telling us that she was not going to stray from the known data. To me, this felt disingenuous, the kind of behavior that one might engage in to excuse a friend's ill behavior.
I'm not sure how I would have told the Craft's story differently, but I am convinced that someone else will tell it better in another book.
The Crafts' trip to freedom (from the book)
It is a spectacular story, but here it felt bloodless. We learned what they did, what they and others said and in their own words. Still, it did little to inspire, to enlarge the story beyond what most readers already knew, or helped us understand slavers, the enslaved (current or former), or the abolitionists who supported the Crafts or failed to. Ilyon Woo's book was often peopled by characters who were flat. I had difficulty liking or disliking most characters, even Ellen and William Craft.
In part, Woo gave herself a difficult task. She chose to write only about what she knew, using only her characters' own words. I appreciated this, but then she would speculate in the absence of data. William was separated from Ellen for long periods when he went to Africa. Was this mutually agreed upon, reflecting their unconventional relationship, as Woo speculated, or did this reflect or cause marital unrest? She asked us to believe the former, while telling us that she was not going to stray from the known data. To me, this felt disingenuous, the kind of behavior that one might engage in to excuse a friend's ill behavior.
I'm not sure how I would have told the Craft's story differently, but I am convinced that someone else will tell it better in another book.
August 2, 2023
In 1848, Ellen and William Craft, an enslaved couple, made a daring escape from Macon, Georgia with Ellen in disguise as a wealthy white man and William as "his" slave. Together they would journey by train and steamship to Philadelphia, a free city. Their story and journey didn't end there though as they would bravely tell their story and work with abolitionists.
Master Slave Husband Wife is what I like about nonfiction. There is a lot to learn from this book. Not just the Craft's story and slavery, abolition, politics, 1850's city life, but many other people's stories and contributions as well. I should have taken notes because I kept finding things I want to learn more about.
This would be a great book for highschoolers. It would also make a great movie. People were mesmerized by Ellen and William's story. It's easy to see why. Their story isn't the sole focus of the book though. We meet other fascinating people as well. It helps to give a better understanding of everything.
There is a lot of information to cover so this isn't a fast read. I took my time because I wanted to absorb all the details. It reads a little like a history book but that works perfectly for me! Master Slave Husband Wife (published January 17th) is a story to remember.
Thank you to Simon & Schuster for the free copy for review.
Master Slave Husband Wife is what I like about nonfiction. There is a lot to learn from this book. Not just the Craft's story and slavery, abolition, politics, 1850's city life, but many other people's stories and contributions as well. I should have taken notes because I kept finding things I want to learn more about.
This would be a great book for highschoolers. It would also make a great movie. People were mesmerized by Ellen and William's story. It's easy to see why. Their story isn't the sole focus of the book though. We meet other fascinating people as well. It helps to give a better understanding of everything.
There is a lot of information to cover so this isn't a fast read. I took my time because I wanted to absorb all the details. It reads a little like a history book but that works perfectly for me! Master Slave Husband Wife (published January 17th) is a story to remember.
Thank you to Simon & Schuster for the free copy for review.
May 5, 2023
This is a history book. It will cover every character the couple encounters and the history of abolition. This was not what I wanted it was very boring and very dry. I would rather have just read an article about the Crafts, but if you want to know everything go ahead and enjoy the very lengthy account of abolition.
May 13, 2023
I really wanted to love this book because it is such a fascinating story. However, it takes many side streets and ends up being more about abolitionists in the US and abroad. It ended up dragging for me.
July 14, 2023
The research that went into this must have been extensive. The subject matter was fascinating, but, oh, it was dry. I felt like this was a study book and I should be taking notes for a test!! One star was withheld for the presentation.
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