Whispering Quilts: A Slave’s Journey of Hope, Struggle, and Freedom

This book was intriguing. I never knew about the quilts hanging. Such a clever idea to help these people to freedom. I know now that whenever I make a quilt block mentioned here , it was also someone’s guide to freedom

Many books and series such as Roots have taken us into a world that is difficult to comprehend. However, I learned so much about the use of quilts as a means to freedom. I wish there was a book series that extended the journey’s story. A book for each type of quilt; North Star, Monkey Wrench, Drunkard’s Path, etc., I would buy every one! And the book jacket could depict the quilt it represented!

Interesting. Wish it had more detail on the journey north.

Couldn’t wait to read this book of struggle, hope and freedom. Learning of slavery from those who suffered. Highly recommend, as it touched my heart and I hope it will enlighten you as well.

This is a moving story that traces the enslavement and forced journey of a young girl from the Kingdom of Dahomey, which is modern-day Benin, to America. This work of historical fiction blends facts and fiction to tell a tale of the young girl's descendants and their experience as slaves on a plantation in South Carolina. The story also tells the tale of the abolitionist who ran what came to be known as the Underground Railroad.The Underground railroad was a system set up to guide runaway slaves from the South to the North, as far as Canada. In the story the abolitionists uses quilts with patterns to represent codes. The codes helped guide the runaways to safe houses or to warn them of impending danger. As a college professor, I am drawn to historical works. What I like about the story is that although the use of coded quilts might be fictional, the many bits of factual information lend a great deal of historical relevance to the book. I learned that an integrated school existed in Canada in the early 1900s! Who knew! I appreciate the many images at the back of the book, which are factual depictions of that period. I also like that there was a moral element to the story in that where there is evil, great good also abounds. I highly recommend this book.

I was attracted to this book because it shares a tell of an individual whose ancestry goes back to Benin as does my own. I believe its a great companion to Barracoon which I recently read. This account gives you insight into the danger that accompanied an attemted escape to freedom. You also sense the level of risk abolitionists toom to aid escape. I believe this account is relevantnfor today as there are many people in bondage - to slavery of a different type. And their path to freedom will require people who are willing to engage and put themselves at risk to help people along the path to freedom. The sheer number of people who had to be involved in the escape process, and the level of coordination and logistics inolved are fascinating to me. Freedom, as we can ser, is never free. Someone has to pay the cost.

History lovers would enjoy this beautifully written and inspiring story, which is set on a slave plantation in the Antebellum South. The story recounts the life and experiences of a young girl who was stolen from her homeland in the Kingdom of Dahomey at the end of the 18th Century and sold to a plantation owner in SC. It traces a branch of her descendants to modern-day Portsmouth, NH. As it says in the book, this could have been the experience of any of the enslaved Africans who were brought to America as slaves. It is quite evident that this is a very well researched book as shown in the meticulous attention to authentic details of the period. It will make you laugh when you read how the enslaved used guile in "puttin' on Massa". You might cry when you read accounts of their daily struggles, but you will be filled with hope, relief, and admiration for the abolitionists who risked so much to try to help fugitive slaves reach safety and freedom. It held my attention from start to end - I recommend it highly!

I hate to give an "I loved it!" type rating to a book that brings up so much pain from my DNA; however, R.M. Tappin does a riveting job of evoking a gripping, white-knuckled tale of heroism in the wake of such horror. And then she birthed such pride, joy and hope when the former slaves made it to Caanan Land.To read this fictional historical account is to swab salve on old wounds scarred over many times."Thank you," to the author who shares my common story and perhaps lineage. Because of them, we do!

I found this book fascinating. It is in fact, a work of fiction. But because it is based on an archive of fact and contains footnotes and references it reads very much like a non-fiction work.It’s a story however of hope and triumph, of one family who made it out of the darkness of those days. For the Europeans, Arabic and Moorish masters, slavery as a trade began in Portugal centuries before the American colonies were founded so the practices were well established by the time of the cotton plantations of the South were established.As for the story, I found it to read like a diary rather than a narrative. Difficult to separate the fiction and fact.I gave it four stars because for anyone with a personal interest in this part of history it is a must read. As a story and work of fiction to entertain, I find it too... diary like. And that’s just a personal taste. I struggle reading diaries! Others may be comfortable with it.