The President's Daughter

By Barbara Chase-Riboud

Book Overview

"Barbara Chase-Riboud writes with a quill of eloquence that is indeed a sword, sounding with the spirituality of Toni Morrison and the passion of Charles Dickens." --Elaine Brown Author of A Taste of Power Barbara Chase-Riboud made literary history with Sally Hemings, the controversial bestseller that told the story of the woman who was Thomas Jefferson's mistress, mother of his children, and the slave he would never set free. Now the provocative chronicle of Sally Hemings continues, in this rich, sweeping novel of Harriet Hemings, the beautiful and headstrong slave daughter of Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson. Allowed to run away from Monticello as Jefferson had promised, Harriet passes for white in the stormy era leading up to the Civil War. And then Harriet receives, from an anonymous sender, her brother Madison Hemings' memoirs. Madison is living on the black side of the color line and Harriet realizes that someone in her circle, perhaps even her own husband, knows that she is indeed the president's daughter. "Chase-Riboud's passion for history and her obsession with the contradictions of sex and race that underlay the founding of the union bring great richness to The President's Daughter." --San Francisco Chronicle

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0517598612
• ISBN13: 9780517598610
• Release Date: October 1994
• Publisher: Crown Publishing Group, The
• Length: 467 Pages
• Weight: 1.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.5" x 6.5" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

the presidents daughter

I liked the book it was interesting, I gave it a good mark because it was written like harriet would have wanted it written.I found it hard to put the book down. I learned about much about the jefferson family and their history.I would read another title by this author

good sequel

I enjoyed this book, even though i don't agree with some of the decisions harriet made in the book. It was good she was able to buy one of her family member at the slave auctions. I think both of her husband's would have loved her even though, she had black in her, but overall it was a good read, to let you know what happened to some of the characthers first met in Sally hemming.

At first I was very interested and could not put it down

At the beginning of the book I could not put the book down. I live so close to Charlottesville and I was very interested in the very possible idea that Thomas Jefferson had a "second" family that was forbidden. The way Thomas Jefferson was portrayed in the book as a man who truely cared about his "second" family, but was unable to express that in front of anyone including them was hard to relate to. I think I am open minded and could not tolerate this behaviour from someone in today's society. Thomas Jefferson is believed to have had several children by Sally Hemmings however the only thing he ever gave to any of them was the privilege to leave Monticello at the age of 21 to live as they wish. Only he would not give them the papers they needed to be legally free. The book portrays Harriet Hemmings as the President's Daughter who passed as white in Philadelphia. She married into a prestigious white family and became a very wonderful person only she can not escape the fact that she has 1/8th black blood. She has a white skin tone with green eyes however she lives everyday wondering if someone, anyone knows who she really is. At the end of the book she finds out that someone has known for several years that she was "black" but never cared! I thought the book was great except towards the end I started to lose interest. This book is a great pic for anyone who is interested in the very possible history of their county's history.

This book is a historical gem.

Truly, this writer is a historian. The size of the book had me somewhat concerned prior to reading. However, I am glad I took the plunge. Wow! I just finished this book yesterday, and much to my chagrin, I discovered how much history I did not know. Even though this book is a novel, it is jammed packed with truisms. She dealt with the difficult history of race i.e. white president, black slave, and all of the dynamics of the era. It is not an easy read and some of the family letters did become somewhat cumbersome near the end. The book left me wanting to know more about the Civil War. She skillfully placed human characteristics on our historical figures. As a result of reading the book I am going to buy her previous work "Sally Hemings" to provide me the background. Educational read.