Monticello Mystique... A masterpiece | Sally Hemings: A Novel

It's Not History | Sally Hemings: A Novel | Barbara Chase-Riboud

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	• Sally Hemings: A Novel Barbara Chase-Riboud St. Martin's Griffin, 2000 - 368 pages average customer review:based on 23 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Great Book and I could feel some of the parts

This was a wonderful book although it was fiction. It was extremely interesting to see how the interest in Sally Hemmings was and also how the relationship developed which seemed to be a co-dependent one. Also how she kept their relationship private and how she was in love with him but at the same time she realized that she was loving a man that could not and would not duplicate the affection. The worst part of the book was the end in where she watched her fmaily get sold off. So much for love right.

Monticello Mystique... A masterpiece

I just visited Monticello and I must say that Chase-Riboud did an amazing job with bringing depth and vitality to the spirit of Monticello. She incorporated so much fact into this story it reads as an autobiography. Without a doubt this is a classic and a must read for all history courses. The author incorporates race, sex, power and Jeffersonian ideals into Sally Heming's legacy.

The language used to describe this affair is very balanced and gives a well-rounded testament to how many people were touched by Jefferson's life. It also helps present day Americans revaluate how we view Jefferson's politics and the true meaning of the Declaration of Independence.

I could read this book over and over and I highly recommend visiting Monticello to truly grasp the details that Chase-Riboud has put in the book to bring Sally Hemings' truth to life.

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It's Not History

I was a guide at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello when the DNA evidence linking Jefferson to Hemings exploded in the mid-1990s, and know how affected many were by the mere thought of this relationship being real. The reverberations are still being felt a full decade-plus later.

Barbara Chase-Riboud published this novel a full 15 years before the Jefferson-Hemings relationship was all but confirmed (despite the protestations of a still vocal minority), and what better way to contextualize something about which we know so little than with a work of fiction? With actual evidence to contradict her being quite scarce, Chase-Riboud is able to turn the tale into a detailed, dramatic story. It really doesn't matter who the main protagonists happen to be. I am reminded of Michael Shaara's "The Killer Angels", in which the author used very well known situations and "characters" (Lee, Chamberlain) to create tense, gripping scenes that undoubtedly did not occur exactly as written.

It's not a work of history, and regardless of your opinion re: whether Jefferson did or didn't you'll find yourself turning page after page.

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Sally Hemings

Barbara Chase-Riboud does a miraculous job writing her novel Sally Hemings. Not only does she give the reader a clear view of the effects that slavery placed upon African Americans, the novel was written using Sally Hemings as the speaker. It gives an insight to the way that slaves did feel when they were owned by white masters. This book was exciting to engage upon and from chapter to chapter more information about Thomas Jefferson and his personal side and emotions were shown unlike in other biographies.Jefferson was forced to deal with the pain of death in his family with his wife and some of their children who died at a young age. When the book shared the comfort and tenderness that Sally Hemings had for this man it was remarkable to read about and the author put this into words, which really helped the reader visualize the situation. This book gave useful information about slave life in Virginia and the free life in Paris, yet helped the reader to actually see that relationships between two people can be inevitable and we notice that Sally Hemings was questioning herself throughout the book to see if she truly wanted her freedom from her lover Thomas Jefferson.The words that were spoken to Sally from her brother, Mother, Martha and the other characters in this novel prove that she was a strong willed woman, who was not only beautiful physically, but on the inside as well. This book was recommended to me and i am very glad that i had the opportunity to read it.

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ENLIGHTENING!!!

"It has long been known that the best blood of Virginia may now be found in the slave markets."

The story of Sally Hemmings a squadron slave, is at the
centre on this story along with her master Thomas Jefferson, who had chosen her as his mistress. Unlike other slaves,
Sally has been favoured; given the best to wear of clothes, as she developes a taste for finery and tasty clothes, the best of everything was hers; including French lessons while in Paris, music and dressmaking. But would this goodwill shown to her, serve her through to the end? Will Thomas Jefferson make an honest woman of this graceful and elegant woman? And also, will she be freed? Don't miss out on this very fascinating and enlightening novel, and especially if you love big fat books.
Reviewed by Heather Marshall Negahdar (SUGAR-CANE 24/08/06)

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Sally Hemings is a novel, but its basis is in fact-as proven by DNA tests on the descendants of Thomas Jefferson and the mysterious woman who bore him seven children.

Barbara Chase-Riboud's moving and controversial novel recreates the love story of Thomas Jefferson, third President of the United States and author of the Declaration of Independence, and his beautiful quadroon slave, Sally Hemings. Spanning two continents, sixty years, and seven presidencies, Sally Hemings explores the complex blend of love and hate, tenderness and cruelty, freedom and bondage, that made their lifelong liaison one of the most poignant and unforgettable chapters in American history.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

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