Three Great African-American Novels by Frederick Douglass

Three Great African-American Novels by Frederick Douglass

Written by three of the most prominent black writers of the nineteenth century, this trio of compelling early classics of African-American literature paints unforgettable portraits of strength and determination framed by the shackles of slavery. Abolitionist authors Frederick Douglass and William Wells Brown, and spiritualist Harriet E. Wilson were former slaves whose writings transformed their hardships into stunning depictions of racial oppression.
Based on a true story, Frederick Douglass' The Heroic Slave is a dramatic fictional retelling of how the determined and courageous Madison Washington led a slave rebellion aboard the ship Creole. In Clotel, the first novel ever written by an African American, William Wells Brown tells a prophetic story about a child conceived by Thomas Jefferson and one of his slaves. And in Our Nig, Harriet E. Wilson's heartrending semi-autobiographical tale, she describes the life of a mulatto girl who, after the death of her mother, is exploited by a terrifying Northern family . . . and then, by the man she marries. Emotionally powerful and historically authentic, this collection is essential reading for students and teachers of African-American history and culture.

Wilson, Harriet E.: -

Harriet E. Wilson (1825-1900) was an African American novelist. Born a free person of color in New Hampshire, Wilson was the daughter of an African American father and an Irish American mother. Following the death of her father, Wilson was abandoned by her mother at the farm of Nehemiah Hayward Jr., who held her as an indentured servant until the age of eighteen. Upon reaching adulthood, Wilson worked as a house servant and seamstress before, in 1851, marrying an escaped slave named Thomas Wilson, who later abandoned her during pregnancy. Although he returned for a brief time, he died at sea soon after, leaving Wilson a widow. She struggled immensely over the next several years to provide for her son, who would die at the age of seven in 1860. During this period, however, Wilson managed to write Our Nig; or Sketches from the Life of a Free Black (1859), which she published anonymously as a means of raising money for her sick child. Now recognized as the first novel published by an African American in the United States, Wilson's autobiographical work is the only thing she published in her lifetime. After George's death, Wilson moved to Boston, where she remarried; divorced; and worked as a housekeeper, medium, and lecturer.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780486468518
ISBN 10	0486468518
Title	Three Great African-American Novels
Author	Frederick Douglass
Series	Dover Literature: African American Ser
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Dover Publications Inc.
Year published	2009-02-27
Number of pages	287
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.