Iola Leroy, or, Shadows Uplifted (Dover Literature: African American) - Softcover

Harper, Frances E. W.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0486479013 ISBN 13: 9780486479019

Publisher: Dover Publications, 2010

Synopsis

The daughter of a wealthy Mississippi planter, Iola Leroy led a life of comfort and privilege, never guessing at her mixed-race ancestry — until her father died and a treacherous relative sold her into slavery. This stirring tale of life during the Civil War and Reconstruction traces a young woman's struggles and triumphs on the path to self-discovery. Confronted with the truth of her origins, Iola Leroy rejects the secrecy and shame inherent to a life of passing as white. Instead, she devotes herself to the improvement of black society in this compelling exploration of race, politics, and class.
The New York Times noted that this 1892 work was "probably the bestselling novel by an African-American before the twentieth century." It bears the additional distinction of being among the first novels published by an African-American woman. Author Frances E. W. Harper, a popular lecturer and poet, was a leader in the suffrage and temperance movements and a founding member of the National Association of Colored Women. In Iola Leroy, she advocates female self-sufficiency and independence within the context of a gripping work of historical fiction.

About this title

About the Author

A poet, author, and popular public speaker, Frances E. W. Harper (1825-1911) was active in the suffrage and temperance movements and a founding member of the National Association of Colored Women.

Review

"Probably the best-selling novel by an African-American before the 20th century."--The New York Times

"For all its heavy-handed moralizing, [Iola Leroy] purposefully fought the prevailing negative views about Blacks."--Essence

"Clearly Harper's words prove her awareness of the cultural and political functions of narrative. With its intricate plot, about a mulatto who first assumes she is white, subsequently learns she is the daughter of a slave ('the child follows the condition of its mother') and is therefore black, and who ultimately makes the conscious choice not to pass for white but to live as a black woman, Iola Leroy is a novel filled with the complexities and contradictions of black-and-female existence in America in the nineteenth century. While the success of the novel is indisputable in terms of copies sold, what is harder to measure is the extent to which it altered cultural and racial attitudes."--The Women's Review of Books

"Harper was a persuasive and sensitive writer, a popular and articulate speaker, and friend of some of the best-known political activists, religious leaders, educators, and artists....Long before she attempted her novel, Iola Leroy, or Shadows Uplifted, she had gained an international reputation as a writer, lecturer, and political activist....Iola Leroy represents the transition from the antebellum period to the Harlem Renaissance and links Afro-American fiction to women's fiction. It is a work that has excited controversy and that is currently exciting scholastic interest."--Frances Foster Smith, from her Introduction

"Frances E.W. Harper's Iola LeRoy is finally taking its place as an illuminating late 19th century treatment of the plantation system. Frances Smith Foster's introduction to the novel is excellent."--Dr. Mary Ann Wiensatt McClintock, University of S. Carolina

Edition details

• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0486479013
• ISBN 13: 9780486479019
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 224