Betty DeRamus

Interesting topic, unfortunately the author is not a very good writer. I hate when writers had way too much description to fill up the page. Wondering if these were originally articles published elsewhere since there is some repetition of material and also that would explain the wordiness. There is limited factual information so the author relied on excessive descriptions to fill the book instead of trying to fill in the gaps with a "fictionalized" accounting. She also often drifted off course to discuss the histories of other people involved in each story she was trying to tell… (altro)

Another disturbing, albeit entertaining look at the history of slavery in the USA. The main theme is the Underground Railroad and how escaped slaves and their many helpers tricked and foiled their pursuing owners and slave catchers. Many of the scams were very clever and some down right bold. Still there are those that failed with dire consequences. Some of the stories that centre around love and how men & women did everything in their power to rescue their loved ones from slavery and danger. The final chapter covers some of the heroes of the fight to end Jim Crow laws, many who are generally unknown so by telling us about these men and women, DeRamus does us a great service. This is especially true of Mary Ellen Pleasant whose fascinating life I had never encountered before.

This is a very entertaining read however tighter editing would have removed some of the repetition especially DeRamus's habit of frequently explaining what an UGR conductor was even though their role was explained early in the book.

She has also written another book about the Underground Railroad entitled Forbidden Fruit: Love Stories from the Underground Railroad.… (altro)