Dutch-Surinamese author Cynthia McLeod (1936-) retells a fictionalized version of the life story of Elisabeth Samson, a wealthy free Black Surinamese woman who lived in 18th-century Dutch Guyana. McLeod studied Samson’s life for over a decade to generate this historical-fiction novel that is framed as a biographical depiction of life in the racialized society of a Dutch colony. It reads like a page turner, but it is a classic read for anyone exploring Dutch colonization and non-Spanish-speaking South America.
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