The Life and Times of Hannah Crafts

By Gregg Hecimovich,

Book cover of The Life and Times of Hannah Crafts: The True Story of the Bondwoman's Narrative

Book description

Named a Most Anticipated Title by: Associated Press, Los Angeles Times, and the Washington Post!

A groundbreaking study of the first Black female novelist and her life as an enslaved woman, from the biographer who solved the mystery of her identity, with a forward by Henry Louis Gates Jr.

In…

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Why read it?

1 author picked The Life and Times of Hannah Crafts as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

It was the biggest mystery of Black literature—and this author figured it out. Who wrote The Bondswoman’s Tale—a recently discovered novel—the first novel written by an African American woman? But why should I care? Why not leave this mystery alone? Instead of just revealing the identity of the author, though, this stunning biography asks us about how women’s lives, particularly those of women who survived captivity, might be different. 

Hecimovich shows us, though, that this book, “Hannah Crafts” (a pen name), writes of happy reunions between a mother and daughter; she avoids depictions of sexual abuse. She draws on…

From Susanna's list on new discoveries in Black History.

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