One of The New York TimesΓÇÖs 10 Best Books of 2023 New York Times Bestseller Named a best book of 2023 by The New Yorker,TimeNPRSmithsonian Magazineand Oprah Daily The remarkable true story of Ellen and William Craftwho escaped slavery through daringdeterminationand disguisewith Ellen passing as a wealthydisabled White man and William posing as ΓÇ£hisΓÇ¥ slave. In 1848a year of international democratic revolta youngenslaved coupleEllen and William Craftachieved one of the boldest feats of self-emancipation in American history. Posing as master and slavewhile sustained by their love as husband and wifethey made their escape together across more than 1000 milesriding out in the open on steamboatscarriagesand trains that took them from bondage in Georgia to the free states of the North. Along the waythey dodged slave tradersmilitary officersand even friends of their enslaverswho might have revealed their true identities. The tale of their adventure soon made them celebritiesand generated headlines around the country. Americans could not get enough of this charismatic young couplewho traveled another 1000 miles criss-crossing New Englanddrawing thunderous applause as they spoke alongside some of the greatest abolitionist luminaries of the dayΓÇöamong them Frederick Douglass and William Wells Brown. But even thenthey were not out of danger. With the passage of an infamous new Fugitive Slave Act in 1850all Americans became accountable for returning refugees like the Crafts to slavery. Then yet another adventure beganas slave hunters came up from Georgiaforcing the Crafts to flee once againΓÇöthis time from the United Statestheir lives and thousands more on the line and the stakes never higher. With three epic journeys compressed into one monumental bid for freedomMaster Slave Husband Wife is an American love storyΓÇöone that would challenge the nationΓÇÖs core precepts of lifelibertyand justice for allΓÇöone that challenges us even now.