I have seen Laurie Halse Anderson speak on several occasions. Not only is she an inspiring speaker, she is a masterful storyteller. I was so pleased to pick up an advance copy of her new book, Chains, at BEA this year. I was even more pleased to find out this fabulous book has been nominated for the National Book Award.
In this day and age it is hard to imagine slavery. Chains tells the story of the injustice suffered by thirteen year old Isabel and her little sister Ruth at the start of the Revolutionary War.
The story opens at the funeral of Isabel's mistress, who has treated Isabel, her sister and their deceased mother with kindness and decency. She had told Isabel that she and her sister would be freed upon her death. But her nephew ignores his dead aunt's wishes and sells Isabel and her sister to the Locktons, New Yorkers who are loyal to the English king.
Taken away to New York, her only hope to find the lawyer who has her freedom papers, Isabel is forced to work long days and nights for the malicious Locktons while she tries to keep her sister's fits of epilepsy a secret. New York is under the Revolutionaries' control when Isabel arrives. She is befriend by a slave named Curson who convinces her to spy on her new masters, who are Loyalists. Isabel is reluctant, but agrees. Unknown to all, she can read and write, a skill her former mistress had taught her and one that makes her a formidable spy. But when her sister is sold and Isabel tries to run, her new mistress goes to court and has her branded on the face with an "I" for insolent. Though no patriot stands for her at the trial, Isabel still is loyal to her friend Curzon. When New York is attacked and occupied by the British, it is Isabel who brings food for her friend in prison and plans their escape.
This is a wonderful story, though the cruelties of slavery, as well as the acceptance of it by society, were difficult to read. But Isabel's spunk, righteousness, and courage make you want to cheer. A must read for any history buff.
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