Iola Leroy, or Shadows Uplifted (1892) is a novel by Frances Ellen Watkins Harper. One of the first novels published by an African American woman, Iola Leroy, or Shadows Uplifted is a story of liberation set during the American Civil War that deals with such themes as abolition, miscegenation, and passing. In North Carolina, a Union Army regiment welcomes a group of escaped slaves into its midst. Led by Robert Johnson and Tom Anderson, the fugitives appeal to the Union commander on behalf of a woman named Iola Leroy, who remains enslaved in town. Leroy, despite being born free, was forced into slavery due to her mixed racial heritage. Her father Eugene, a wealthy slaveowner, set Iolas mother free in order to marry her and start a family. When he died from a sudden bout of yellow fever, Eugene unwittingly left his family in grave danger, and Marie and her children were soon torn from freedom by Eugenes spiteful relatives. Although Iola had been sent North to study at a seminary, she is tricked into returning to the South and sold away from her family. Having told her story, Johnson and Anderson join up with the Union commander and his regiment to fight for Iolas freedom. Iola Leroy, or Shadows Uplifted, which inspired Zora Neale Hurston and Ida B. Wells, is a groundbreaking work of African American fiction and a definitive masterpiece from a pioneer in her craft. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Frances Ellen Watkins Harpers Iola Leroy, or Shadows Uplifted is a classic of African American literature reimagined for modern readers.
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Product Details
Dimensions: 127 x 203mm
Publication Date: 26 Jan 2021
Publisher: Graphic Arts Books
Publication City/Country: United States
Language: English
ISBN13: 9781513271729
About Frances Ellen Watkins Harper
Frances Ellen Watkins Harper (1825-1911) was an African American abolitionist suffragist poet and novelist. Born free in Baltimore Maryland Harper became one of the first women of color to publish in the United States when her debut poetry collection Forest Leaves appeared in 1845. In 1850 she began to teach sewing at Union Seminary in Columbus Ohio. The following year alongside chairman of the Pennsylvania Abolition Society William Still she began working as an abolitionist in earnest helping slaves escape to Canada along the Underground Railroad. In 1854 having established herself as a prominent public speaker and political activist Harper published Poems on Miscellaneous Subjects a resounding critical and commercial success. Over the course of her life Harper founded and participated in several progressive organizations including the Womens Christian Temperance Union and the National Association of Colored Women. At the age of sixty-seven Harper published Iola Leroy or Shadows Uplifted becoming one of the first African American women to publish a novel.