Annette Gordon-Reed

This book is extensive and sometimes repetitive, making me initially wish some of the information had been included in footnotes. I slowly came to appreciate the author's style, which I suspect is based as much on her expertise in the law as it is in history. Gordon-Reed shows her work more than other historians, describing documents and what can be gleamed from them to reconstruct the story of the Hemings family, which lived enslaved at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello. Sally Hemings, of course, dominated large portions of the narrative, but one gets a wider view of the entire Hemings family and the struggles they faced as some members gained freedom and others remained enslaved. Overall, a good read with insights into slavery, its impacts on families, and the legal implications in 18th and 19th century America.… (mere)