W.W. Brown/Clotel

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A 3 page book review of William Wells Brown's novel Clotel, or, The President's Daughter, which was first published in 1853 and has the distinction of being the first novel authored by an African American. The fundamental premise of the novel is that Thomas Jefferson fathered children by one of his slaves. The narrative begins with the auction of Jefferson's mistress, Currer, and their two daughters, Clotel and Althesa. Brown indicates the irony of Jefferson, the Founding Father most recognized for writing eloquently of freedom, liberty and equality, as being sufficiently hard-hearted and hypocritical to first father black children and then sell them, with no paternal feeling whatsoever. As this suggests, the sole purpose for the novel is to convey the emotional and physical atrocities of slavery. In achieving this purpose, the novel opens a window on the past for the modern reader. No additional sources cited.