Celia, A Slave | Melton A. Mclaurin | Satisfaction Guaranteed

Celia, A Slave | Melton A. Mclaurin | An excellent slice of history

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	Celia, A Slave Melton A. Mclaurin Avon, 1999 - 192 pages average customer review:based on 18 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Celia was an ordinary slave--until she struck back at her abusive master and became the defendant in a landmark trial that threatened to undermine the very foundations of the South's "Peculiar Institution."

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An excellent slice of history

Celia is a true story about a young African-American woman who was purchased by an elderly Missouri man to be his concubine. As a resident on his farm in her own cabin, Celia becomes romantically attached to another slave. She is then forced into a dilemma: either break off her relationship with her own and be failthful to a man of her own race or continue the master-sex slave condition. She kills her owner and is susbsequently tried, convicted, and hanged.
The book covers the owner's beginning, his purchase of Celia, her conflicts, the murder and the trial with a deft hand by the author. What makes the book so outstanding is the author placing the whole story in the context of the country in the 1850s in such a way that the reader gets insights into the period. Furthermore, the author does this in a manner in a judicious manner that allows the reader to see the tragedy of Celia and 19th century dilemma of slavery in America.

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Fascinating History

Celia, A Slave by Melton McLaurin focuses on the trial of a 19-year-old slave in Missouri, charged with the murder of her master. It examines the politics of slavery (Kansas was being fought over by pro- and anti-slavery groups at the time) and patriarchy in the slave south, and I thought it was fascinating.

The middle parts of the book were the most engrossing, when the case and the events surrounding the case were discussed. The first and last chapters were a bit slower, as they go into background information on the owner and then a short analysis of how the event fits in with recent scholarship on slavery. It was pretty readable for a scholarly work, and was short enough to keep my attention (right around 150 pages). I thought it was well done.

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this is what I didn't write in my essay for the book for HIS103

I feel that the story of Celia is better than the book. I say that because the book can be very vague and too narrow at the same time. The author will go on and on (for pages at a time) about an irrelevant political issue in great detail and frequently makes statements like, "it is possible that..." and "it is unknown what happened..." about Celia's story. To me, it felt like the author was trying to fill the holes left by Celia's lack of historical evidence with other, well-documented events of the time period. I understand some background information is important but that was too much and it happened too often. Despite some of the issues with the book, the story itself is great. I was completely sympathic to Celia and wished that things turned out differently.

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Celia deserved to have her story grip you from beginning to end.

This story should have been one that grips you from beginning to end instead of a chore to wade through. Many names and dates and events could easily have been left out. I love history and usually appreciate a picture of what's going on on all fronts throughout the story, but I'm sorry to say here it seemed tedious and unnecessary.

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4

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