Clotel or, The President's Daughter

"Clotel" is the story of a slave woman who was allegedly the daughter of Thomas Jefferson. At the time the book was published in 1853, rumors were rife about Jefferson's relationship with his slave, Sally Hemings. We now know, through DNA testing, that those rumors were true -- but the author could only go on supposition.<br /><br />However, Brown's narrative is well-informed for a variety of reasons. Not only is this the first historical novel written by an African-American; Brown was an escaped slave living in London when he wrote and published the tale. His book not only relies on his story-telling skills (this book is far less preachy than <a href="https://goodreads.com/book/show/46787.Uncle_Tom_s_Cabin" title="Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe" rel="noopener">Uncle Tom's Cabin</a>, despite the similar subject matter) but also on contemporary documents such as newspaper articles, first-person accounts and so on to create his tale.<br /><br />Clotel, along with her sister Althesa and their mother, Currer, is sold in the slave markets after her master's death. We see the story arcs for all three characters as they go through hurdle after hurdle trying to reunite. The story is gripping, moving, and well-written. I particularly enjoyed the inclusion of primary sources as additional atmosphere.<br /><br />Those who enjoy classic historical novels would do well to investigate this book.

There is something audacious and true about this book, however fictional. The first time I came to the sentence calling Clotel the daughter of Thomas Jefferson I felt the boldness of that sentence, and the truth of it, that it was known even in 1853 that Jefferson had children who were slaves. The novel is not a novel in the strictest sense since much of it seems culled from the news and then re-enacted with fictional characters, something like a History Channel documentary will use scenes with actors in their documentaries to portray true events. Each short chapter reads as an episode culled from the news that was contemporary to the novel's publication. The use of fiction to portray real events is done very skillfully here, for example in a scene where the hypocrisy of a white slaveowner reading only those portions of the bible to his slaves that support their bondage is fully revealed, as well as the slaves' full understanding of that hypocrisy. Or when a white mistress comprehends for the first time that a slave's child looks like her husband. The discomfort of both white slaveowners and their darker-skinned slaves at the very existence of light- or white-skinned slaves is difficult to read about, but feels true as well. There are scenes written with great compassion, and sometimes with great brutality, of how slaves tried to escape, and how they were captured and punished for their attempt to escape. Heartbreaking, wrenching, revealing...amazing, especially if as a reader you can let go of the expectations you might have of what a "Novel" is meant to be, and read this instead as a part-indictment, part-historical re-enactment of human lives in the most desperate circumstances.<br />

2021 Reread review:<br />This is really well done and truly should be required reading in place of Twain across the nation.<br />This includes a lot of true history that serves as a lesson on chattel slavery interspersed with the fictional tale of Clotel and her family.<br />The author really is able to succinctly point out US hypocrisy in regards to chattel slavery and his views are scathingly accurate.<br />Brown was invested in colorism in surprising and disappointing ways, with the exception of that issue this holds up well with modern knowledge. <br /><br />Original review:<br />I thoroughly enjoyed this. Other than some use of language that felt dated and dry now, a really good read. Colorism is rampant as the author explores stories of colorism. The author manages to weave true stories in the fictuonal narrative that make the fictional narrative feel real.

5 FEB 2017 - our Literature of the 19th Century February group read at Yahoo. A good selection for Black History Month, Clotel is written by a man who was both exposed to and personally experienced slavery. <br /><br />Project Gutenberg - <a target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow" href="http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2046">http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2046</a><br /><br />Literature of the 19th Century at Yahoo - <a target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow" href="https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/19thCenturyLit/info">https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/1...</a><br />Feel free to join - everyone is welcome!<br /><br />25 FEB 2017 - William Wells Brown showed me the many faces of slavery and the abominable treatment of slave women in particular. Not a great read and not a bad read, either. Just a story by a man who set out to educate the world about slavery through his own words. Thank you, Mr Wells Brown.

When I read this book for my slave lit class, I was particular affected by the relationship between Clotel and Horatio Green. The “romance” (if you can call it that!) between the two of them both broke my heart and frustrated me to no end! When Green first met Clotel, it seemed like he was sincere in his affections toward her and when he promised to purchase her and make her “mistress of her own dwelling,” this was viewed as a step toward emancipation. Although this initially seemed a lovely courtship, the reader is hit with the reality of the situation after Clotel’s sale at the slave market. “Clotel was sold for fifteen hundred dollars, but her purchaser was Horatio Green. Thus closed a negro sale, at which two daughters of Thomas Jefferson, the writer of the Declaration of American Independence, and one of the presidents of the great republic, were disposed of to the highest bidder!”<br /><br />Although the fact that Clotel was a purchased slave definitely detracted from the romantic quality of her relationship with Green, it seemed, at first, like she would be happy in the arms of the man whom she loved. After Green prepared a beautiful little cottage for Clotel, the couple “married”, although not in any legal sense (since that sort of marriage was forbidden by law!). Although “the young couple lived secluded from the world, and passed their time as happily as circumstances would permit,” social realities drew Horatio away from Clotel and sadly his political ambitions led him away from her and into the arms of a white woman whom he could respectfully marry. I felt my heart break along with Clotel’s as she confronted and bid farewell to Horatio. I could feel her pain as she sat “weeping beside a magnolia”…I can’t imagine how I would have reacted if I had been in her situation!<br /><br />Now, as far as Horatio Green is concerned, my emotions are mixed! On the one hand, I see him as a naïve young man who fell in love with a beautiful woman who could never really be part of his life. He did what was necessary to be with her, in light of the social and political climate of the era. On the other hand, he still didn’t seem to think there was anything wrong with slavery as a whole (Since I just completed Chapter 9, I don’t know if this changes later in the book or not – I’m looking forward to seeing what happens). He did not indicate any desire to go against the pervading social beliefs by legally emancipating Clotel and I think he would have gone on seeing her even after he married Gertrude, as indicated by his emotional outburst when Clotel said her final farewell. Although I have to admit that I felt sorry for Green as “the moon looked down upon him mild, but very sorrowfully” and “long and earnestly, he gazed at the cottage, where he so long known earth’s purest foretaste of heavenly bliss,” that sympathy ends when I think that he had choices, if only he were brave enough to make them. Clotel, on the other hand, was unable to make similar choices about her destiny and yet she chose a self-respecting path when she mournfully said goodbye to her lover, despite the potential danger of being sold to another slaveholder.<br />

How the actual hell have I never heard of this book before?<br /><br />Clotel: or, the President's Daughter is a masterpiece of historical fiction that rings with historical truth. Based on facts and narratives that William Wells Brown collected on his own journey out of slavery, Clotel unashamedly looks many facets of slavery in the eye and calls them out as the horrors they are. I wish like crazy that this book had been taught to me in school. I learned far more from it than I did from many of the narratives set before me. And it reaches through time to judge America now.<br /><br />I intend to write more analytically when I can properly collect my thoughts. This book deserves it.

The president referred to in the title? None other than Thomas Jefferson. You see, even the offspring of an American president, and though endowed with fair skin, are still subject to the laws of the land, however reprehensible those may be. Clotel was the daughter of a slave and President Jefferson. In this tale, we follow the merciless miseries visited upon Clotel and her family members, though there is one instance of happiness in the finale, which occurs in France; reason enough to inspire at least an ounce of hope.<br /><br />While Mr. Brown’s writing is sketchy, <i>Clotel</i> is notable because of its foundational importance to the understanding of the many strains placed on the individual under American slavery. Mr. Brown extends his criticism beyond legislation to include those religious institutions that bowed to, and even encouraged, slavery, a phenomenon that is largely forgotten, I think. We all know about our shameful history, though what enslavement did to the person is further from common awareness. W.E.B DuBois reminded me that those behaviors have aftereffects that can be seen even today, nearly a century and a half following emancipation. Many have long been confused in their conclusions drawn from observing longstanding aberrant social behavior among impoverished American minorities, while the cause often sits in plain view. Mr. Brown wrote, “They boast that America is the ‘cradle of liberty’; if it is, I fear they have rocked the child to death.”

William Wells Brown is an amazing man and author. After having stumbled upon this book, I am sorely disappointed that I have only discovered him now (at age 47 in 2014) - and by accident. I sincerely believe that I should have been introduced to him in public school by the time I was a pre-teen. After reading this work of fiction, as well as biographical information about Brown from other sources, I feel that I have a much broader and deeper understanding of the "slave experience". I also believe that I have a greater understanding of the hurdles abolitionists faced in trying to rid America of the scourge of slavery.<br /><br />Brown's life-story as well as his work should be part of the mandatory curricula in the American education system. Furthermore, if something must be removed from the education of American students to make room for Brown's work, take out Mark Twain's <i>Adventures of Huckleberry Finn</i> and possibly <i>The Adventures of Tom Sawyer</i> while we're at it. The experiences of Clotel and her family provide much more educational substance than either of these two "classics" by Twain with none of the offensive language and behavior of Twain's characters. And, as a bonus for students and teachers, <i>Clotel</i> is a much shorter read.

Historically significant novel about the lives of slaves, written by a former slave. The author states that this fictional story is based on true incidents, making the book even more emotionally heartbreaking. The plot was a bit confusing at times, as it jumped around to each character's separate storyline, hence my three star rating. I do think it is still worth reading.

It wasn’t really about a Clotel all that much. <br />The asides to the reader are an odd choice, but interesting and really good.