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William Wells Brown's first novel, Clotel, published in 1853, is consideredby most scholars to be the first novelpublished by an African American. Thenovel is based on the belief, currentat the time, that Thomas Jeffersonhad fathered an illegitimate mulattodaughter with Sally... Read Full Overview

First published in December 1853, Clotel was written amid then unconfirmed rumors that Thomas Jefferson had fathered children with one of his slaves. The story begins with the auction of his mistress, here called Currer, and their two daughters, Clotel and Althesa. The... Read Full Overview

Clotel; or, The President's Daughter is an 1853 novel by United States author and playwright William Wells Brown, an escaped slave from Kentucky who was active on the anti-slavery circuit. Brown published the book in London, where he stayed to evade possible recapture due to... Read Full Overview

As nearly all of its reviewers pointed out, Clotelwas an audience-minded performance, an effort to capitalize on the post--Uncle Tom's Cabin"mania" for abolitionist fiction in Great Britain, where William Wells Brown lived between 1849 and 1854. The novel tells the story of Clotel... Read Full Overview

Including selections from the key texts and cultural documents the author drew on to write Clotel in 1853, this novel marks the first book published by an by an African American. It was inspired by the rumored sexual relationship between Thomas Jefferson and his slave Sally Hemings.
... Read Full Overview

The first novel published by an African American, Clotel takes up the story, in circulation at the time, that Thomas Jefferson fathered an illegitimate mulatto daughter who was sold into slavery. Powerfully reimagining this story, and weaving together a variety of contemporary... Read Full Overview

Clotelle

William Wells Brown was a prominent American abolitionist in the 19th century. Brown was born into slavery and wrote an account of his experiences. Brown also wrote Clotel; Or, The President's Daughter which is thought to be the first novel written by an African-American.

With the growing population of slaves in the Southern States of America, there is a fearful increase of half whites, most of whose fathers are slaveowners and their mothers slaves. Society does not frown upon the man who sits with his mulatto child upon his knee, whilst its mother... Read Full Overview

Clotel Or The President's Daughter is a novel written by William Wells Brown in 1853. It tells the story of Clotel, a mixed-race slave who is the daughter of Thomas Jefferson and his slave mistress, Sally Hemings. The novel follows Clotel's life as she and her family are sold... Read Full Overview

"Clotel; or, The President's Daughter: A Narrative of Slave Life in the United States" is an 1853 novel written by American author and playwright William Wells Brown. The story revolves around the titular Clotel and her sister, two fictional slave daughters of Thomas Jefferson,... Read Full Overview

Born into slavery, Clotel is a white-passing woman who conceals her identity and uses a disguise to infiltrate a plantation to rescue her loved ones. It's a story of survival that's deeply rooted in the cruelest part of American history.

Clotel and Althesa are... Read Full Overview

FOR many years the South has been noted for its beautiful Quadroon women. Bottles of ink, and reams of paper, have been used to portray the "finely-cut and well-moulded features," the "silken curls," the "dark and brilliant eyes," the "splendid forms," the "fascinating smiles,"... Read Full Overview

William Wells Brown, who is credited with being the first African American novelist, crafts a groundbreaking piece of American fiction in his 1853 work "Clotel; Or, The President's Daughter". The long untouched subject matter of mixed race identity during the antebellum South... Read Full Overview

Originally published in 1853, Clotel is the first novel by an African American. William Wells Brown, a contemporary of Frederick Douglass, was well known for his abolitionist activities. In Clotel, the author focuses on the experiences of a slave woman: Brown treats the themes... Read Full Overview