Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl is one of the first personal narratives written by a slave and one of the few written by a woman. Harriet Jacobs, Linda Brent, was a slave in North Carolina who suffered terribly at the hands of a ruthless owner. She made several failed attempts to escape before successfully making her way north, a process that took years of hiding and slow travel.

Jacobs is now perhaps the most read and studied Black American woman of the nineteenth century.

"Reader be assured this narrative is no fiction. I am aware that some of my adventures may seem incredible; but they are, nevertheless, strictly true. I have not exaggerated the wrongs inflicted by Slavery; on the contrary, my descriptions fall far short of the facts. I have concealed the names of places, and given persons fictitious names. I had no motive for secrecy on my own account, but I deemed it kind and considerate towards others to pursue this course."