Dial Books for Young Readers
2011
360p.
A fictionalized look at the last twenty years of Thomas Jefferson's life at Monticello through the eyes of three of his slaves, two of whom were his sons by his slave, Sally Hemings.
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Jefferson's Sons by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
Dial Books for Young Readers
2011
360p.
A fictionalized look at the last twenty years of Thomas Jefferson's life at Monticello through the eyes of three of his slaves, two of whom were his sons by his slave, Sally Hemings.
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This book brings the post-revolutionary decades vividly to life, and leaves powerful images. It took a while to draw me in to the story, but by the end I was so absorbed by the characters I couldn't put the book down. So full of both love and sadness, heroic dreams and harsh realities; poignant, heartbreaking, and yet inspiring in the resilience of the characters. The conversations in many passages were crafted skillfully to concisely illumine difficult questions about Jefferson: How could he reconcile the soaring idealism of "all men are created equal" with the brutal reality of owning slaves? As one character says, "Can a person be great and still participate in evil?" Haunting and memorable characters and voices.
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