author
H. L. L.
b. 1783
Born in Saint-Domingue in 1783, this little-known memoirist tells a striking true-life story shaped by revolution, sea travel, captivity, and religious conversion. His only clearly documented work reads like an adventure narrative, but it is also a deeply personal account of survival and faith.
1 Audiobook
About the author
Very little seems to be known with confidence about this author beyond what appears in his own book. The surviving record identifies him only as H. L. L., with dates often given as 1783–1803?, and describes him as a native of Saint-Domingue.
His best-known work, A short account of the extraordinary life and travels of H. L. L.----, was published in the early 1800s and presented as being "written by his own hand." According to library and catalog records for that book, it recounts his birth in Saint-Domingue in 1783, time spent in France during the French Revolution, voyages around the Caribbean and South America, service at sea, capture by the British, and imprisonment in Ashbourne, Derbyshire.
What makes the book memorable is the mix of historical upheaval and personal testimony. It is at once a travel narrative, a captivity story, and a conversion memoir, tracing a life marked by dislocation and danger before turning toward Methodism and spiritual reflection.