Iola Leroy, or, Shadows Uplifted

By Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, Michigan Historical Reprint Series, Koritha Mitchell, The Perfect Library

Subjects: Fiction, african american, historical, Ps1799.h7 i55 2018, African Americans -- Fiction, African Americans, African americans, fiction, Fiction subjects, Fiction, general, African American women, United states, history, civil war, 1861-1865, fiction, Fiction, historical, Fiction, historical, general, African American women -- Fiction, Slavery, Fiction, african american, general, Romans, nouvelles, Slaves, fiction, African American authors, Peoples & cultures - fiction, African american women--fiction, Fiction, Racially mixed people, American literature, Social conditions, Slaves, African american women, History, Noirs américains, Free African Americans, Ps1799.h7 i6 1987, 813/.3

Description: <p>As the Civil War bears down on a small North Carolina town, a tight-knit community of enslaved men and women is preparing for the coming battle and the possibility of freedom. Into this ensemble cast of characters comes Iola Leroy, a young woman who grew up unaware of her African ancestry until she is lured back home under false pretenses and immediately enslaved. Amidst a backdrop of battlefield hospitals and clandestine prayer meetings, this quietly stouthearted novel is a story of community, integrity, and solidarity.</p> <p><a href="https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/frances-ellen-watkins-harper">Frances Ellen Watkins Harper</a> was already one of the most prominent African-American poets of the nineteenth century when—at age 67—she turned her focus to novels. Her most enduring work, <i>Iola Leroy</i>, was one of the first novels published by an African-American writer. Although the book was initially popular with readers, it soon fell out of print and was critically forgotten. In the 1970s, the book was rediscovered and reclaimed as a seminal contribution to African-American literature.</p>