Review of Last Days of John Brown, the Abolitionist; a Short Story

Saint Bruno · Post by **Saint Bruno** » 05 Nov 2021, 18:30

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Last Days of John Brown, the Abolitionist; a Short Story" by Doris N. Starks.]

4 out of 4 stars

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Last Days of John Brown, The Abolitionist: A Short Story by Doris N. Starks is a short historical fiction book that, as the title implies, tells the story of the last days of John Brown. Born in 1800 in Torrington, Connecticut, John Brown moved to Ohio with his father when he was five years old. When John was twelve years old, his father sent him to deliver cattle to Michigan. Before reaching his destination, he stopped at a man's home, and the man helped him with the cattle and gave him food. John saw that the man had a slave boy who was about his age. He also noticed that the man was maltreating the boy. The man hit the boy with whatever was at hand and neither clothed nor fed him properly. More so, the poor boy slept in the barn, at the mercy of the cold Michigan winter. It was then that John vowed to fight slavery.

Forty-seven years later, and in jail, after a failed attempt by John and his men to raid the Harpers Ferry arsenal and get weapons, he goes over some of the events leading to his arrest in his mind and prepares himself for the worst.

Starks uses the third-person point of view to deliver this short narrative, and while this is a fiction book, the author uses the names of historical figures like Harriet Tubman and actual places in the book. I enjoyed the author's depiction of the inner dialogues that were going on in John's mind after his arrest because it helped me empathize with him and understand his stance. However, readers can decide for themselves if John Brown's approach was the best. This short story gave me some history lessons on the sacrifices made by historical figures like John Brown and how Americans regarded slavery at that time.

What I like most about this book is how short but inspiring the story is. Having only 39 pages, I finished the book in no time but learned a lot from it. Also, some of John Brown's actions are thought-provoking. For example, his lawyers asked him to plead insanity, but John refused, asking them who should be considered more insane between he who wanted to free his fellow human beings and those who wished to put them in chains.

Furthermore, I enjoyed the author's straightforward writing style. There were no ambiguities, yet her descriptions were graphic enough to paint pictures in my mind. I also loved the photos of some historical places in the book because they made the book more appealing and her narrations relatable.

In conclusion, there wasn't anything I disliked about the book. However, using the first-person point of view would have made it easier for the author to portray John Brown's inner dialogues better and make his character even more relatable. Anyway, this is just my opinion because John Brown's perspective drives the narrations. I also found a few avoidable editing errors. Regardless, I'm rating the book four out of four stars because the things I mentioned above are negligible compared to how much I enjoyed it. I recommend this book to lovers of short historical fiction books, especially those interested in reading about John Brown's last days.

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Last Days of John Brown, the Abolitionist; a Short Story
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Rishi_reviews · Post by **Rishi_reviews** » 18 Nov 2021, 00:29

I always like a good historical fiction novel and something about John brown will only increase my interest. Thanks for the review.

Review Writer · Post by **Review Writer** » 18 Nov 2021, 07:49

This book seems special on it's story font. It's a great thing that you can learn a lot within a short read.

Alexander C Schmoock · Post by **Alexander C Schmoock** » 18 Nov 2021, 13:09

Historical fiction isn't by favourite genre but your review draws me to this one. Great job.

Chukwuebuka Ifedigbo · Post by **Chukwuebuka Ifedigbo** » 18 Nov 2021, 22:19

I am a sucker for history books. This book sounds interesting - like one that is full of suspense. Definitely reading it soon. Thanks for this amazing review.