A review by jemjemv
The Poems of Phillis Wheatley: With Letters and a Memoir by Phillis Wheatley

4.0

Regarding her poems: Incredible writing from the first Black poet to publish a book. As other reviewers have mentioned, I would give her poetry 5 stars, even though some of the topics aren’t my taste. Her words are intentional, moving, and emotional. She was incredibly gifted. 

However, I found the “memoir” at the end to be cringey and distasteful. It’s not a memoir, and was not written by Phillis, but was written by a descendant of Phillis’s oppressors, Margaretta Matilda Odell, who claims to have “been familiar with the name and fame of Phillis from her childhood.” Seems like Odell tried her best to put a “white savior” spin on what happened, portraying the family to have taken Phillis in, that they did her a favor and gave her all sorts of opportunities: “…had Phillis fallen into less generous and affectionate hands, she would speedily have perished under the privations and exertions of common servitude.” Mr. John Wheatley is described as a “respectable citizen of Boston, a gentleman. …oh yeah, and a slave owner. That fact is slipped in as if it doesn’t matter. She was taken from her homeland and bought by this white family when she was 7. This family enslaved Phillis. They shouldn’t get to tell her story from their privileged and oppressive stance.