Minnie's Sacrifice

Minnie’s Sacrifice (1869) is a novel by Frances Ellen Watkins Harper. Originally serialized in the Christian Recorder, Minnie’s Sacrifice is a rediscovered work of fiction from one of nineteenth century America’s most prominent black writers and activists. The novel, which addresses such themes as miscegenation, passing, and the institutionalized rape of enslaved women, is a vastly underappreciated work that repurposes the story of Moses to tell a tale with a powerful political message.

On a plantation in the American South, a slave named Miriam mourns the untimely death of her only daughter. Agnes, who succumbed while giving birth to a baby boy in their cabin at the edge of Mr. Le Croix’s property, left her son in her mother’s care. Visiting Miriam’s cabin later that day, Camilla, the master’s daughter, discovers a blond-haired, blue-eyed boy. Bringing this to the attention of her father, Camilla proposes that the boy be sent away from the plantation to be brought up as white. Unable to accept that the boy should be considered a slave, Camilla begs her father to take the child north, all the while failing to connect her own father to the boy’s birth. After brief contemplation, he nervously consents to her plan, but for all her cunning and bravery, Camilla is entirely unprepared for what her merciful endeavor will reveal. Minnie’s Sacrifice, by an author who inspired Zora Neale Hurston and Ida B. Wells, is a groundbreaking work of African American fiction and a definitive masterpiece from Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, a pioneer in her craft.

This edition of Frances Ellen Watkins Harper’s Minnie’s Sacrifice is a classic of African American literature reimagined for modern readers.

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