'The Bondwoman's Narrative', written in the 1850s, is the only known novel by a female African-American slave, and quite possibly the first novel written by a black woman anywhere. A work recently uncovered by renowned scholar Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr, it is a stirring, page-turning story of the adventure of a young slave as she makes her way to freedom.
The heroine is a self-educated young house slave who knows her life is limited by the brutalities of her society, but never suspects that the freedom of her plantation's beautiful new mistress is also at risk . . . or that a devastating secret will force them both to flee from slave hunters with another powerful, determined enemy at their heels.
Professor Gates's brilliant introduction includes the story of his search for the real Hannah Crafts, the biographical facts that laid the groundwork for her novel, and a fascinating look at other, contemporary slave narratives. The publication of The Bondwoman's Narrative as a Virago Modern Classic is an unprecedented historical and literary event
