An American Quilt: Unfolding a Story of Family and Slavery

By: Rachel May

Narrated by: Carrington MacDuffie

Length: 12 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's summary

When we think of slavery, most of us think of the American South. We think of back-breaking fieldwork on plantations. We don't think of slavery in the North, nor do we think of the grueling labor of urban and domestic slaves. Rachel May's rich new book explores the far reach of slavery, from New England to the Caribbean, the role it played in the growth of mercantile America, and the bonds between the agrarian South and the industrial North in the antebellum era - all through the discovery of a remarkable quilt.

While studying objects in a textile collection, May opened a veritable treasure-trove: a carefully folded, unfinished quilt made of 1830s-era fabrics, its backing containing fragile, aged papers with the dates 1798, 1808, and 1813, the words "shuger", "rum", "casks", and "West Indies", repeated over and over, along with "friendship", "kindness", "government", and "incident". The quilt top sent her on a journey to piece together the story of Minerva, Eliza, Jane, and Juba - the enslaved women behind the quilt - and their owner, Susan Crouch.

May brilliantly stitches together the often-silenced legacy of slavery by revealing the lives of these urban enslaved women and their world. Beautifully written and richly imagined, An American Quilt is a luminous historical examination and an appreciation of a craft that provides such a tactile connection to the past.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2018 Rachel May (P)2018 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Surprise

Great book one I’ll keep to reread. More about history of slavery than quilt. Enjoyed

Superb!

A fascinating book, taking a 19th century quilt as the jumping-off point for the exploration of enslavement in the United States: of attitudes then and now, of assumptions and discoveries and of the complicity of north and south, the former especially largely hidden and unacknowledged even today. A book everyone should read, a paean to the unquenchable dignity of many of the enslaved, and also a domestic story, enlarged by attention to detail and by the individual stories of the enslaved women of a single family. The audiobook is beautifully narrated by Carrington MacDuffie, the book itself distinguished by Rachel May’s meticulous research and willingness to question her own assumptions. 5 stars.

Not the quilting book I was expecting.

Very disappointed that the book vaguely described the quilting or methods, simply lapsed into a book on slavery which was not as interesting as other slavery books I have read.

Not what you think

This author is biased against the South finds the North is no better when it came to slavery. She is anti-capitalist. I don’t understand the point of asking people today how it makes them feel that their family were slave owners. Umm, who cares. We didn’t do it. It was a different time. Now she brings it to today and laments over her own clothing because poor people in Bangladesh made them and they are oppressed by rich people. Oh my God. I had to stop listening before I threw my phone out of my moving car. Hard no.