Our Nig : or, Sketches from the Life of a Free Black (Vintage)
Editorial Reviews
From 500 Great Books by Women; review by Erica Bauermeister
Ignored by critics upon its publication and "lost" for more than one hundred years, Our Nig was rediscovered and reprinted in 1983 and is currently considered to be the first novel by an African-American published in the United States. It is a fascinating book which combines elements of nineteenth-century slave narratives and domestic novels and defied the social conventions of its time by portraying interracial marriage, child abandonment, cruel Northerners, and an African-American heroine who is full of energy, intelligence, and imagination, bowed only by prolonged and arduous toil. The story begins with six year-old Frado, deserted by her white mother after the death of her black father and left to live as a servant with the Bellmonts. While some Bellmont family members are sympathetic, Frado is treated like a slave by the mistress of the house and her daughter. By the time Frado is an adult she fulfills duties in "all departments - man, boy, housekeeper, domestic, etc." One by one, Frado's allies are taken from her, replaced finally by a man with whom "she opened her heart to the presence of love" - and who then deserts her. With an ironic, circular return to the beginning of the story, Our Nig is Frado's - and the author's - attempt to support herself and her child. -- For great reviews of books for girls, check out Let's Hear It for the Girls: 375 Great Books for Readers 2-14.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
"I sat up most of the night reading and pondering the enormous significance of Harriet Wilson's Our Nig." —Alice Walker
Our Nig : or, Sketches from the Life of a Free Black (Vintage)
Our Nig: or, Sketches from the Life of a Free Black (Vintage),Harriet E. Wilson,Vintage,1400031206,19th Century American Novel And Short Story,African American Novel And Short Story,African American women,African American women domestics,Ethnic Studies - African American Studies - General,Feminism & Feminist Theory,Fiction,Fiction - General,Literary,Racism,Social Science,Sociology,19th century fiction,English,Fiction / Literary,USA
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