Book Review~Louisa, by Robert Emmel

louisa-book-coverIn honor of Black History Month, I want to introduce you to an educational and insightful look into the lives of black slaves in early Colonial America.  Louisa, by Richard Emmel, offers an honest and eye opening look at the life of a young African girl kidnapped from her home and take on a grueling ship ride to a new and taxing life as a salve in America.

Based loosely on Phyliss Wheatly’s life, Louisa tells the story of Farih Morowa, later renamed Louisa Wheatley.  Born a Princess in a Senegali tribe, Farih is the ultra-intelligent, spoiled daughter of a king until she is grabbed from the banks of the Senegal River on her birthday.  Farih is forced on to a horrible slave ship packed with other people kidnapped, just like her, for a grueling three month trip to Colonial America.  She is then sold to Mr. Wheatly, who changes her name and gives her a job as a house slave.

Louisa is trained, nurtured, and taught by Mrs. Wheatly and the other house slaves. While she does not personally face the horrific treatment of a slave, the treatment is detailed in the book (told through her eyes).  Emmel follows her life with great detail and passion, giving us a true view of what Phyliss Wheatly’s life may have been like.

We follow Louisa through childhood; experience her fear, trepidations, joy that comes from Christ, triumphs and failures.  We experience her rise to fame, joy from marriage and childbearing. We cry with Louisa when she looses her first son in childbirth and cheer as she rises above the many prejudices she will face in her lifetime and gains her freedom.

Louisa is an excellent resource for your home, your child, the classroom, and yourself.  It opens your eyes to the autrocities faced by slaves throughout time.

Share and Enjoy:
  • Twitter
  • Technorati
  • Facebook
  • Digg
  • Reddit
  • LinkedIn
  • del.icio.us
  • Ping.fm
  • Yahoo! Buzz
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Print

Posted in: Reviews

Tags: , , ,

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 11th, 2009 at 8:56 am and is filed under Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

No Responses to “Book Review~Louisa, by Robert Emmel”

Denese February 11th, 2009 at 9:39 am

This sounds like a good book and my daughter would enjoy reading it, she loves history.
Thanks for the review. :)

admin February 11th, 2009 at 9:41 am

It IS an excellent book! Once I started reading it, I just could NOT put it down! It’s eloquently written and based on factual experiences.