Never Caught

Reviews / Votes

"A fascinating and moving account of a courageous and resourceful woman. Beautifully written and utilizing previously untapped sources it sheds new light both on the father of our country and on the intersections of slavery and freedom in the flawed republic he helped to found."
-- Eric Foner, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Fiery Trial and Gateway to Freedom "Totally engrossing and absolutely necessary for understanding the birth of the American Republic, Never Caught is richly human history from the vantage point of the enslaved fifth of the early American population. Here is Ona Judge's (successful) quest for freedom, on one side, and, on the other, George and Martha Washington's (vain) use of federal power to try to keep her enslaved." -- Nell Irvin Painter, author of Sojourner Truth, A Life, A Symbol "Never Caught is the compelling story of Ona Judge Staines, the woman who successfully defied George and Martha Washington in order to live as free woman. With vivid prose and deep sympathy, Dunbar paints a portrait of woman whose life reveals the contradictions at the heart of the American founding: men like Washington fought for liberty for themselves even as they kept people like Ona Staines in bondage. There is no way to really know the Washingtons without knowing this story." -- Annette Gordon Reed, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Hemings of Monticello "Dunbar has teased out Ona Judge from the shadows of history and given us a determined woman who rejected life as a slave in the comfortable household of George Washington for the risks of freedom . We see Washington -- a man torn by conflicting sentiments about slavery -- in a new and ambiguous light, and plunge with Judge into the teeming cities of the young republic, where for the first time Americans are beginning to grapple with the contradiction between the Founders' ideals and the unyielding fact of slavery. No one who reads this book will think quite the same way about George and Martha Washington again." -- Fergus M. Bordewich, author of The First Congress "Dunbar brings to life the forgotten story of a woman who fled enslavement from America's First Family. Her mostly Northern story is a powerful reminder that the tentacles of slavery could reach from the South, all the way to the state of New Hampshire. The surprising part of this true history is not that she achieved her freedom, but the lengths to which George and Martha Washington would go to try to recapture a young woman who insulted them by rejecting bondage." -- Gretchen Holbrook Gerzina, Dean of Commonwealth Honors College and author of Mr & Ms. Prince "In this riveting and thoroughly researched account of the life of Ona Judge Staines, historian Erica Armstrong Dunbar carefully and compellingly constructs enslaved life inside The President's House and in the larger urban and rural communities of the time. A true page-turner, readers will come away with a deeper appreciation of enslaved people's lives and a disturbing portrait of George and Martha Washington as slave owners. This book will change the way we study the history of slavery in the U.S, the history of American Presidents, and especially the burgeoning field of black women's history." -- Daina Ramey Berry, Historian at the University of Texas at Austin and author of The Price for Their Pound of Flesh "With the production of the Tony-award winning play, Hamilton, many Americans have been reminded of the noble actions of the nation's fathers and mothers in birthing a new country founded on democracy, liberty, and freedom. In Never Caught historian Erica Armstrong Dunbar pulls back the curtain on their individual actions by focusing on Ona Judge, an enslaved woman owned by Martha and George Washington, who stole herself to freedom and refused to be reenslaved. Piecing together the fragments of a life, in vivid prose, Dunbar reminds us of the tremendous toll slavery visited on men and women of conscience and conviction, both black and white. This is a must read for anyone interested in this nation's long pursuit of perfecting freedom." -- Earl Lewis, President of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation "A startling, well-researched . . . narrative that seriously questions the intentions of our first president." * Kirkus Reviews * "A crisp and compulsively readable feat of research and storytelling." * USA Today * "There are books that can take over your life: Try as you might, you can't seem to escape their mysterious power. That's the feeling I had when reading the tour de force, Never Caught." * Essence Magazine * "[Dunbar] sketches an evocative portrait of [Ona's] daily life, both before and after her risky escape. For the reader, as for Judge, George Washington the Founding Father takes a back seat to George Washington the slave master. * Pacific Standard Magazine * "Dunbar weaves an unforgettable story about a courageous woman willing to risk everything for freedom." * Real Simple * "Erica Armstrong Dunbar combines the known facts of Ona's life in service to the Washingtons with vivid descriptions of the physical and emotional conditions early American slaves faced." * New York Post * "Compulsively readible" * USA Today * "A valuable addition to African-American history, Never Caught pays a triple dividend." * Richmond-Times Dispatch * "A story of extraordinary grit." * The Philadelphia Inquirer * Never Caught is a gripping story of courage of a black slave woman who sacrificed many things including her family to gain freedom. Never Caught shows freedom is more important than anything else. What makes Never Caught uniquely interesting and important is that this is one of the rare narratives from a black woman slave. It also shines light on the dark corners of American history and the first Family, the Washingtons. * Washington Book Review *