Editorial Reviews
Book Description
Sapphira Dodderidge, a Virginia lady of the 19th century, marries beneath her and becomes irrationally jealous of Nancy, a beautiful slave. One of Cather's later works.
The Merriam-Webster Encyclopedia of Literature
Novel by Willa Cather, published in 1940. The novel is set in Virginia in the mid-1800s on the estate of a declining slaveholding family. Sapphira and the Slave Girl centers on the family's matriarch, Sapphira Colbert, and her attempt to sell Nancy Till, a mixed-race slave girl. Sapphira's plot is foiled by her husband Henry and their widowed daughter Rachel Blake. A confident, strong-willed invalid, Sapphira has earned the respect of many of her slaves despite her subtle cruelty toward Nancy. Henry is a pious miller whose simple upbringing and passivity contrast with the aristocratic and manipulative nature of his wife. Henry's nephew Martin, a suave but lecherous ex-soldier, tries to seduce Nancy. Rachel, who helps Nancy flee to Canada, remains at odds with Sapphira over the issue of slavery until the death of Rachel's daughter reconciles the pair. Cather appears in the epilogue as a child who notes Nancy's triumphant return 25 years later.
Sapphira and the Slave Girl
Sapphira and the Slave Girl,Willa Cather,Vintage,0394714342,Historical fiction,Literary,Literature - Classics / Criticism,Literature: Classics,Fiction / Literary,Modern fiction
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