Thank you The New Press for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own. No review was required in return for an advance reading copy and no review was promised.

Mr. Book just finished A Plausible Man: The True Story of the Escaped Slave Who Inspired Uncle Tom’s Cabin, by Susanna Ashton.

Last winter, I was watching an episode of The Jeffersons, in which Louise’s uncle was explaining to Lionel, about Josiah Henson, who was the attributed to be the inspiration for Uncle Tom’s Cabin. That got me interested in Henson’s life and I read several books on him. So, when I saw the title of this one, I was intrigued.

But, then I saw in the description that it was about a man named John Andrew Jackson. So that peaked my curiosity even more. Who is this Jackson, how does he relate to Henson’s story. I didn’t remember that name being mentioned in my readings about Henson. Could there have been two different men who both inspired the story? Would this other book even mention Henson or it would just pursue Jackson’s story, just like the books on Henson didn’t mention Jackson?

It turns out there was a simple explanation for that mystery. Stowe acknowledged that they had used a lot of Henson’s experiences, from his autobiography, for the character of Uncle Tom. But, it is uncertain whether she ever met him or, if they met, what the extent of things were. Meanwhile, Jackson was an escaped slave who spent a single night in Stowe’s home and, in that time, made a very big impression on her. Stowe did confirm meeting Jackson.

So, it appears that both men have claims to be an inspiration for the book, instead of just a sole inspirator.

Unfortunately, figuring out the answer to the mystery was the most interesting aspect to this book. The book just wasn’t interesting enough. So, I must just give this one a C. Amazon, Goodreads and NetGalley require grades on a 1-5 star system. In my personal conversion system, a C equates to 2 stars. (A or A+: 5 stars, B+: 4 stars, B: 3 stars, C: 2 stars, D or F: 1 star).

This review has been posted at NetGalley, Goodreads and my blog, Mr. Book’s Book Reviews. It will also be posted at Amazon, as soon as the book is released to the public on August 6.

Mr. Book originally finished reading this on June 2, 2024.