Lois ’s Reviews > Tara Revisited: Women, War, & the Plantation Legend > Status Update

This is told from white women's point of view. There's talk of 'Negro' regiments, whose sole purpose, according to the author, was to demoralize white Confederates. The author goes on to quote white confederate women upset by these soldiers mere presence. No corresponding quotes of the pride of black southern women which I've read in slave narratives. This book is biased and written by a bigot.

Cringe at patronising characterization of ex enslaved peoples successfully planting and tending crops after unofficially freeing themselves as 'self-sufficient'. Enslaved peoples were always self-sufficient, it's their captors who weren't. Sigh.

Also the endless whining about their loss of family but again, how many families did these women separate? White women were ABSOLUTELY involved in the chattel slave trade. So I hope they suffered horribly and I hope they never recovered. It couldn't begin to touch the suffering they've caused. I do not feel sorry for Confederates. I only wish they ALL had died.

So far maybe 20% or so about Black Women, enslaved or otherwise. Also Confederate Women can't really behave honorably in a dishonorable cause. It feels like the author wants to primarily focus on what these women suffered but no focus on the centuries of suffering from which they benefited and enforced suffering on others. Sigh

I judged too soon, this is shaping up very fair indeed. I'm glad because this author has other books I'm interested in.

The author is not honest about white women's power during slavery over enslaved peoples. White women may have rarely recorded, or self reported their mean treatments, but slave narrarives give much testament to it.
Also acting like whire slave owning women had real problems in comparison to the women they enslaved is a hufe reach.
This looks like a fragile author thought she'd blame white men.

This is interesting and accessible writing.