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HOTTENTOT VENUS BY BARBARA CHASE-RIBOUD

A REAL LIFE STORY OF A 19TH CENTURY SOUTH AFRICAN WOMAN NAMED SARAH BAARTMAN WHO IS TAKEN FROM HER NATIVE LAND, TRANSFORMED INTO A CIRCUS FREAK AND EXHIBITED IN LONDON AND PARIS AS 'THE HOTTENTOT VENUS'.

SHE IS DISCOVERED BY A FAMOUS FRENCH NATURALIST LOOKING FOR THE 'MISSING LINK' BETWEEN MEN AND APES AND BECOMES THE ROSETTA STONE OF SCIENTIFIC RACISM.

DOUBLEDAY-320 PP,$ 24

 

When the novel Sally Hemings first appeared in 1979, it was dismissed by mainstream historians as « fantasy » and raised a storm of controversy about the 38 year relationship between Thomas Jefferson ans his slave mistress, Sally Hemings. With DNA evidence proving that the third president of the United States, did indeed father the children of Sally Hemings, Chase-Riboud and the book have now been vindicated.

In this novel, she unfolds a complex 19th century quilt of miscegenation, denial, hypocrisy, love and bondage -- in the Virginia of the American revolution.

The original edition of Sally Hemings was a national bestseller with more than one million copies sold. The new edition includes a new author's introduction and extensive historical notes

 

NOVELS BY BARBARA CHASE-RIBOUD


Sally Hemings (New Edition, 2000 -- St. Martin's Press, New York)
After 20 years of controversy, DNA findings finally proved that
Thomas Jefferson fathered children by his slave mistress, Sally
Hemings. The latest edition of this historical classic includes a new author's introduction and historical notes. The original edition was edited by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and was the winner of the 1979 Kafka Prize for Best Novel by an American Woman.

The President's Daughter (1994 -- Ballantine Books/St. Martin's Press, NY)
The sequel to Sally Hemings, this novel dramatizes the double life of Harriet Hemings, daughter of Thomas Jefferson, who left his
Monticello plantation on her 21st birthday and lived her adult life as a white woman.

Echo of Lions (1989--William Morrow, NY)
As she did with Sally Hemings, Chase-Riboud introduced into
popular consciousness another forgotten historical character, Joseph Cinque, leader of the Amistad slave ship revolt. This novel was the object of a huge controversy and multi-million dollar suit between Chase-Riboud and movie producer Steven Spielberg.

Valide: A Novel of the Harem (1986 -- William Morrow, NY)
After tackling black slavery in America, Chase-Riboud removed
herself to the Ottoman Empire and white slavery. This book
portrays the mother of Mohammed II, an American Creole slave who became the Valide (Queen Mother) of one of the greatest
empires of all time.

 
bcr@chase-riboud.org