AN AMERICAN STORY The Odyssey of Solomon Northup

Solomon Northup was a free black who was betrayed, drugged, and sold into slavery. AN AMERICAN STORY tells of his 12 years in slavery, and how he won his freedom. Northup suffered greatly and had to display servility while keeping his free spirit intact. Allen Gilmore captures Northup's complex, formal voice well and delivers the voices of slaves and their owners with equal ease. At times Gilmore enters fully into the story, transforming the reading into a hypnotic dramatization. At other times, however, Gilmore's narration is too emotionally distant for the narrative, as when Northup was whipped. G.T.B. (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine [Published: DEC 02/ JAN 03]