12 Years a Slave is a compelling story written hastily in four months by white ghost writer David Wilson in 1853. The story of Solomon Northup’s kidnapping and subsequent slavery and ultimate rescue is nothing short of amazing. I’m surprised I never heard about it until the movie came out. I haven’t seen the movie yet, but decided to read the book because I was curious how this slave narrative compared to the many narratives I read in an African-American literature class I recently took.