12 Years a Slave
About this audiobook
“Now I had approached within the shadow of the cloud, into the thick darkness whereof I was soon to disappear, thenceforward to be hidden from the eyes of all my kindred, and shut out from the sweet light of liberty, for many a weary year.”—Solomon Northup
Born and raised a freeman in New York, with a house, a loving wife, and two children, Northup was offered a short-term engagement as a violinist in Washington D.C. where he was tricked, drugged, and sold into slavery in the deep south.
Kept in bondage in Louisiana for twelve years, enduring backbreaking labor, unimaginable violence, and inhumane treatment at the hands of cruel masters, miraculous circumstances led to Solomon Northup regaining his freedom.
With its eloquent depiction of life before and after bondage, this story of his extraordinary journey shows just how the resiliency of hope and the strong human spirit can conquer even the most horrible of circumstances.
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About the author
Solomon Northup (c. 1808–after 1857) was a free Black man from New York, a skilled carpenter, and violinist who was kidnapped in Washington D.C. in 1841 and sold into slavery in Louisiana, where he endured 12 years of brutal bondage before being rescued. He documented his harrowing experiences in his bestselling 1853 memoir, Twelve Years a Slave, becoming a prominent abolitionist speaker after his freedom was restored.
Dion Graham, from HBO’s The Wire, also narrates The First 48 on A&E. An award–winning and critically acclaimed actor and narrator, he has performed on Broadway, off Broadway, internationally, in films, and in several hit television series. His performances have been praised as thoughtful and compelling, vivid and full of life.
