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Book cover of Iola Leroy, or, Shadows Uplifted

Iola Leroy, or, Shadows Uplifted

by Frances E. W. Harper · 2012

ISBN: 0486141187 9780486141183

Category: Fiction / African American / Historical

Page count: 224

The daughter of a wealthy Mississippi planter, Iola Leroy led a life of comfort and privilege, never guessing at her mixed-race ancestry — until her father died and a treacherous relative sold her into slavery. This stirring tale of life during the Civil War and Reconstruction traces a young woman's struggles and triumphs on the path to self-discovery. Confronted with the truth of her origins, Iola Leroy rejects the secrecy and shame inherent to a life of passing as white. Instead, she devotes herself to the improvement of black society in this compelling exploration of race, politics, and class. <br>The <i>New York Times</i> noted that this 1892 work was &quot;probably the bestselling novel by an African-American before the twentieth century.&quot; It bears the additional distinction of being among the first novels published by an African-American woman. Author Frances E. W. Harper, a popular lecturer and poet, was a leader in the suffrage and temperance movements and a founding member of the National Association of Colored Women. In <i>Iola Leroy, </i>she advocates female self-sufficiency and independence within the context of a gripping work of historical fiction.