Sally Hemings: A Novel

Barbara Chase-Riboud

Apr 2009 · Chicago Review Press

About this ebook

Bringing to life one of the greatest and most controversial love stories, this fictional account reveals the beautiful and elusive Sally Hemings, Thomas Jefferson's mistress for 38 years whom he loved and lived with until he died. Adding to the scandal, she was a quadroon slave and Jefferson fathered a slave family whose descendants are alive today. In this novel, Jefferson and his mistress are fully realized, as are many of the other personages of the early Republic--Aaron Burr, Dolly and James Madison, John and Abigail Adams, and Sally's mother Elizabeth, who was Jefferson's father-in-law's mistress. This brilliant and highly acclaimed novel is a contemporary masterpiece--a poignant, tragic, and unforgettable meditation on the history of race and sex in America.

About the author

Barbara Chase-Riboud is an acclaimed African-American novelist, poet, and sculptor. Her bestselling historical novels include Echo of Lions, Hottentot Venus, The President's Daughter, and Valide.