Father Henson’s Story of His Own Life

Written by Josiah Henson, Father Henson’s Story of His Own Life presents an autobiography first published in 1858. Its central concerns include memory, identity, self-interpretation, and the meaning assigned to a lived past, approached through the possibilities of autobiography. Rather than depending on topical novelty, the book builds its interest through the interaction of character, situation, and idea. The book’s distinctive character comes from a personal voice that turns recollection into argument, confession, and narrative. At roughly 37,411 words with an average difficulty reading profile, it offers a reading commitment that is easy to judge before beginning while still leaving room for close attention. Readers still return to it because of its firsthand perspective on an individual life and its historical setting. Readers drawn to autobiography and memory will find a work that combines a distinct period voice with questions that remain recognizable today. Father Henson’s Story of His Own Life therefore works both as an encounter with Josiah Henson’s individual voice and as an example of the wider literary tradition surrounding autobiography.