and her brother see him as a hero. Both of them would later name their son for him. William is John S. Jacobs, Linda's brother, to whom she is close. Benny is Joseph Jacobs, Linda's son. Ellen is Louisa Matilda Jacobs, Linda's daughter. Dr. Flint is Dr. James Norcom, Linda's master, enemy and would-be lover. J. F. Yellin, after researching his surviving private letters and notes, writes about his personality: "Norcom was a loving and dominating husband and father. In his serious and sophisticated interest in medicine, his commitment as a physician, and his educated discourse, he appears unlike the villain Jacobs portrays. But his humorlessness, his egoism, his insistently controlling relationships with his wife and children ... suggest the portrait Jacobs draws. This impression is supported by ... his unforgiving fury against those he viewed as enemies. It is underscored by his admitted passionate responses to women." Mrs. Flint is Mary "Maria" Norcom, Linda's mistress and Dr. Flint's wife. Emily Flint is Mary Matilda Norcom, Dr. Flint's daughter and Linda's legal owner. Mr. Sands is Samuel Tredwell Sawyer, Linda's White sexual partner and the father of her children, Benny and Ellen. Mr. Bruce is Nathaniel Parker Willis. The second Mrs. Bruce is Cornelia Grinnel Willis. Overview Chapters 1 and 2 describe the narrator's childhood and the story of her grandmother until she got her freedom. The narrator's story is then continued in chapters 4 to 7, which tell of the longing for freedom she shares with her uncle Benjamin and her brother William, Benjamin's escape, the sexual harassment by Dr. Flint, the jealousy of his wife, and the lover who she is forbidden to marry. Chapters 10 and 11 tell of her affair with Mr. Sands and the birth of her first child. Chapters 14 to 21 tell of the birth of her second child, her removal from the town to Flint's plantation, her flight and her concealment in her grandmother's garret. The nearly seven years she had to spend in that narrow place are described in chapters 22 to 28, the last chapters of which concentrate on the fate of family members during that time: the escape of her brother William (chapter 26), the plans made for the children (27), and the cruel treatment and death of her aunt Nancy (28). Her dramatic escape to Philadelphia is the subject of chapters 29 and 30. Chapters 31 to 36