Synopses & Reviews
In 1858, two black women meet at a restaurant and begin to plot a revolution. Mary Ellen Pleasant owns a string of hotels in San Francisco that secretly double as havens for runaway slaves. Her comrade, Annie, is a young Jamaican who has given up her life of privilege to fight for the abolitionist cause. Together they join John Brown’s doomed enterprise and barely escape with their lives.
With mesmerizing skill, Cliff weaves a multitude of voices into a gripping, poignant story of the struggle for liberation that began not long after the first slaves landed on America’s shores.
Michelle Cliff is the author of No Telephone to Heaven, among other books of fiction, and a forthcoming essay collection, Apocalypso. She lives in Santa Cruz, CA.
Review
"An articulate writer with an alluring prose style, Cliff offers an absorbing tale of friendship, survival and courage." Publishers Weekly
Synopsis
Acclaimed novelist Michelle Cliff tells the remarkable and little-known story of abolitionist Mary Ellen Pleasant's life, based in San Francisco. Pleasant funded John Brown's ill-fated raid on Harper's Ferry and ran a string of hotels in San Francisco that catered to wealthy whites while secretly doubling as havens for runaway slaves.
Synopsis
A mix of myth, legend, and history evokes the vivid life of a frontier legend and abolitionist.
Synopsis
Fiction. Cultural Writing. Afircan American Studies. A mix of myth, legend, and history evokes the vivid life of a frontier legend and abolitionist. With mesmerizing skill, Cliff weaves a multitude of voices into a gripping, poignant story of the struggle for liberation that began not long after the first slaves landed on America's shores.
About the Author
Michelle Cliff was born in Jamaica and is the author of two previous novels, No Telephone to Heaven and Abeng; a collection of short stories, and two poetry collections. Her fiction, poetry, and esays have appeared in numerous publications, including Parnassus and the VLS.