Twelve Years a Slave
In the rest of the book, Northup talks about living as a slave, about the people he meets, about the work he does, and about what he does to try to get home.  The slavers give Northup the fake name "Platt." Northup says that the first man who bought him, named Ford, was not very bad.  But the second man who bought him, named Tibeats, was cruel.  The third man, named Epps, was even worse.  He would hit and whip slaves no matter what they did.  He would wake them up and make them dance at night.  The next day, Epps would beat them if they did not work as hard as if they had had a full night's sleep.  Epps would force the slaves to beat and whip each other while he watched.  Northup talks about coming back to his cabin to find his cabinmate, Abram, covered in blood because Epps had stabbed him with a knife.  Northup talks about Patsey, a slave woman, whom Epps forces to have sex with him.  Northup talks about how Epps' wife hates Patsey even though it was not her fault.  One time, Patsey has gone to a friend to get a bar of soap.  Epps forces Northup to whip Patsey.