If there’s an irony to the fact that February, Black History Month, also contains Presidents' Day, Erica Armstrong Dunbar’s new book brings that irony into sharp relief. Never Caught is a chronicle that throws considerable shade on America’s Founding Fathers for their slaveholding hypocrisy ... Even for those who know the basics, Never Caught is a crisp and compulsively readable feat of research and storytelling.
In this narrative history, professor Dunbar explores the horrific nature of slavery through the lives of Ona and other slaves in Washington’s household. Ona’s story provides critical insights into the experiences of slaves and free black people in the antebellum period. Never Caught is an important read for anyone interested in American history.
Dunbar unearthed an advertisement for the runaway slave and became determined to tell her story—and she tells it well ... A startling, well-researched slave narrative that seriously questions the intentions of our first president.
