Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl · Question
Who is Linda Brent in Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl?
Answer
Linda Brent is the name Harriet Jacobs uses for herself in this autobiographical narrative, published under her pen name with Lydia Maria Child as editor. Linda grows up partly under her grandmother’s roof, survives Dr. Flint’s sexual harassment, bears children, hides seven years in a garret, escapes to the North, and continues struggling under fugitive law until supporters help secure freedom.
Students should know Brent/Jacobs as author and speaker — the book is first-person testimony shaped for abolitionist readers, not third-person fiction. Link identity to sexual-exploitation-and-agency and to motherhood themes driving plot decisions.
Evidence in the book
- Seven Years Concealed
Title and preface establish Linda Brent as narrator of incidents.
- Childhood
Linda introduces early life and grandmother’s influence.
