NamedaMostAnticipatedTitleby:AssociatedPress,LosAngelesTimes,andtheWashingtonPost!AgroundbreakingstudyofthefirstBlackfemalenovelistandherlifeasanenslavedwoman,fromthebiographerwhosolvedthemysteryofheridentity,withaforwardbyHenryLouisGatesJr.In1857,awomanescapedenslavementonaNorthCarolinaplantationandfledtoafarminNewYork.Inhiding,sheworkedonamanuscriptthatwouldmakeherfamouslongafterherdeath.Thenovel,TheBondwoman’sNarrative,wasfirstpublishedin2002togreatacclaim,buttheauthor’sidentityremainedunknown.Overadecadelater,ProfessorGreggHecimovichunraveledthemysteryoftheauthor’snameand,inTheLifeandTimesofHannahCrafts,hefinallytellsherstory.Inthisremarkablebiography,HecimovichidentifiesthenovelistasHannahBond“Crafts.“ShewasnotonlythefirstknownBlackwomantocomposeanovelbutalsoanextraordinarilygiftedartistwhohonedherliteraryskillsindirectoppositiontoasystemdesignedtodenyhereverymeasureofhumanity.AfterescapingtoNewYork,theauthorforgedanewidentity--asHannahCrafts--tomakesenseofalifefracturedbyslavery.HecimovichestablishesthecaseforauthorshipofTheBondwoman’sNarrativebyexaminingthelivesofHannahCrafts’sfriendsandcontemporaries,includingthefiveenslavedwomenwhoseexperiencesformpartofhernarrative.Bydrawingonthelivesofthosesheknewinslavery,Craftssummonedintoherfictionpeopleotherwisestolenfromhistory.Atonceadetectivestory,aliterarychase,andaculturalhistory,TheLifeandTimesofHannahCraftsdiscoversataleoflove,friendship,betrayal,andviolencesetagainstthebackdropofAmerica’sslideintoCivilWar.
CRAFTS HANNAH FRIENDSHIP TIMES LIFE
