A fictionalized slave narrative written in African American dialect, it is a story of "Aunt Rachel," a servant, aged about sixty, who seemed to be very happy. When asked how she could have lived so long with no trouble, she began a brief account of her life. Her mother was born a slave in Maryland, and she herself was raised in Virginia where she married and had seven children. Her mistress decided to sell the slaves and they were sent to a slave market in Richmond where "Aunt Rachel" was separated from her husband and children. She became a slave in Newbern, Virginia where she was the cook until the Civil War and the Union soldiers invaded the town. She became a cook for the soldiers until her son, Henry, found her as he had promised before he was sold and separated from her.