Iola Leroy, or Shadows Uplifted (Black Women Writers) [Paperback]

Frances E.W. Harper (Author), Hazel V. Carby (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0807063177 | ISBN-13: 978-0807063170 | Publication Date: May 20, 1987

One of the most significant contributions to early Black literature, "Iola Leroy" is one of the best-selling novels by an African-American before the 20th century. With its intricate plot, about a mulatto who first assumes she is white, subsequently learns she is the daughter of a slave and is therefore black, and who ultimately makes the conscious choice not to pass for white but to live as a black woman, "Iola Leroy" is a novel filled with the complexities and contradictions of black-and-female existence in America in the nineteenth century. The author of "Iola Leroy," Frances E. W. Harper, was a persuasive and sensitive writer, a popular and articulate speaker, and friend of some of the best-known political activists, religious leaders, educators, and artists of her day. "Iola Leroy" tackles an array of issues affecting the black race, and America in general, during the late 19th century. These issues range from gender, to internalized racism among the Negro of lighter skin color, the infamous "Negro question," the hypocrisy of religion, and many others. The opening chapters in "Iola Leroy" about the slaves under slavery, the slaves during the civil war, their actual role in stopping the confederacy, the intelligence of the slaves, and all are not just idle depictions, but responses to those who felt slaves were incapable of revolution. Harper's analysis of the strength and struggle of the freedmen and freedwomen after slavery tends to also reply to the debate about whether they were worthy of freedom, and whether the fall of reconstruction was inevitable. Harper was optimistic about the future and potential of African-Americans, maintaining that the doors of education, religious freedom, and of economy and capitalism were open to the race. The most undeniable value of the book, is the call that the author makes for literacy, temperance, and the uplifting of the race.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Probably the best-selling novel by an African-American before the 20th century."--The New York Times

"For all its heavy-handed moralizing, [Iola Leroy] purposefully fought the prevailing negative views about Blacks."--Essence

"Clearly Harper's words prove her awareness of the cultural and political functions of narrative. With its intricate plot, about a mulatto who first assumes she is white, subsequently learns she is the daughter of a slave ('the child follows the condition of its mother') and is therefore black, and who ultimately makes the conscious choice not to pass for white but to live as a black woman, Iola Leroy is a novel filled with the complexities and contradictions of black-and-female existence in America in the nineteenth century. While the success of the novel is indisputable in terms of copies sold, what is harder to measure is the extent to which it altered cultural and racial attitudes."--The Women's Review of Books

"Harper was a persuasive and sensitive writer, a popular and articulate speaker, and friend of some of the best-known political activists, religious leaders, educators, and artists....Long before she attempted her novel, Iola Leroy, or Shadows Uplifted, she had gained an international reputation as a writer, lecturer, and political activist....Iola Leroy represents the transition from the antebellum period to the Harlem Renaissance and links Afro-American fiction to women's fiction. It is a work that has excited controversy and that is currently exciting scholastic interest."--Frances Foster Smith, from her Introduction

"Frances E.W. Harper's Iola LeRoy is finally taking its place as an illuminating late 19th century treatment of the plantation system. Frances Smith Foster's introduction to the novel is excellent."--Dr. Mary Ann Wiensatt McClintock, University of S. Carolina

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

About the Author

Frances Ellen Watkins Harper (1825?1911) was an African American abolitionist and poet. Born free in Baltimore, Maryland, she had a long and prolific career, publishing her first book of poetry at twenty and her first novel, the widely praised Iola Leroy, at age 67. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 282 pages
• Publisher: Beacon Press (May 20, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807063177
• ISBN-13: 978-0807063170
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,939,909 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Beautiful, Optimistic novel from the Age of Reaction, March 31, 2000

By 

J. C. Vera "intellectualised" (Miami, Fl United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Iola Leroy, or Shadows Uplifted (Schomburg Library of Nineteenth-Century Black Women Writers) (Hardcover)

While it might easily be regarded solely as a criticism on slavery, Frances E.W. Harper's Iola Leroy is a novel that tackles an infinite array of issues affecting the black race, and America in general, during the late 19th century. These issues range from gender, to internalized racism among the Negro of lighter skin color, the infamous "Negro question," the hypocrisy of religion, and many others. Tne most undeniable value of the book, is the call that the author makes for literacy, temperance, and the uplifting of the race.

Harper, like Dubois, is optimistic about the future and potential of African-Americans. She sustains that now that the doors of education, religious freedom, and of economy and capitalism are open to the race the expectations are great both on the part of the whites and the blacks themselves.

The undeniable value of the book, is the call that the author makes for literacy, temperance, and the uplifting of the race. This novel deserves extensive study not only as a feminist or ethnic work; it is one of the basic works of American Literature which can be read and enjoyed by anyone interested in social issues and fine reading material.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Neglected sadly, December 25, 2004

By 

Tony Thomas (SUNNY ISLES BEACH, FL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Iola Leroy (Black Women Writers Series) (Paperback)

Harper was a major political, economic, and educational figure in the entire period from the civil war until the turn of the century. The sweep of this book is that entire period. In this way Harper is really registering what is the last in a long dialog of texts about what social power can or did overthrow slavery, and what forces are behind this. Harper's opening chapters about the slaves under slavery, the slaves during the civil war, their actual role in stopping the confederacy, the intelligence of the slaves, and all are not just idle depictions, but responses to those like Delany who felt the slaves were incapable of revoltion. Harper's analysis of the strength and the struggle of the freedmen and freedwomen after slavery tends to also reply to the debate about whether they were worthy of freedom, and whether the fall of reconstruction was inevitable.
At times Harper's concern for these debates weakens the plot as a modern reader would see it. Moreover, though her description of struggle through out the early parts of the book is gripping, as you gets to the close without more to offer than education and social uplift, the book also tends to seem weak to the modern reader trained to more visceral and personalized plotting. When Harper wrote, particularly in the tradition she writes, often the overall message as she delivers it, was seen so much more important than the plot. A message such as this was what the reader bought a book for then.

Like Blake and Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl this is a historic document. Unlike so of those texts, this is written with hind sight from decades latter, by one of the last of the pre-civil war Black literary/political intellectuals to survive.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Shadows Truly Uplifted, June 28, 2011

By 

Daina (Texas) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Iola Leroy, or, Shadows Uplifted (Dover Books on Literature & Drama) (Paperback)

Iola Leroy is a novel that shows the plight of slaves and former slaves around the time of the Civil War. Through stories of several generations, Harper shows how different segments of society react to the notion of freedom. With all the turmoil and strife in this period, Harper still manages to end on a note of hope and optimism.