51 pages • 1 hour read
Stephanie CampCloser to Freedom
Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2002A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Before You Read
Super Short Summary
Closer to Freedom by feminist historian Stephanie Camp explores how enslaved women in the plantation South resisted their oppression through everyday acts of defiance. Focusing on mobility and space, Camp examines how women navigated a "rival geography" to resist containment and assert limited autonomy. Sensitive topics include violence and sexual assault.
Reviews & Readership
Review Roundup
Stephanie Camp's Closer to Freedom offers a nuanced examination of resistance among enslaved women in the antebellum South. Reviewers praise its innovative use of personal narratives and its focus on spatial dynamics of oppression and resistance. However, some critics wished for a broader geographical scope. Overall, it's a valuable, though niche, contribution to slavery studies.
Who Should Read Closer to Freedom?
Readers who appreciate Closer to Freedom by Stephanie Camp will likely be drawn to African American history, slavery studies, and gender studies. Fans of Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs or Ar'n't I a Woman? by Deborah Gray White will find this book insightful and compelling.