Customer Reviews

Sally Hemings: An American Scandal: The Struggle to Tell the Controversial True Story

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I vaugely remembered Tina Andrews from her acting days. How she goes from being a contract performer on a soap opera to a movie writer and producer is a fascianting story. I'd buy the book for this alone. The struggle to make the Sally Hemmings mini-series is another remarkable tale. Although I think the actress playing Sally was miscast,(I collect books on Sally Hemmings and the actress looks nothing like the description given by both whites and former slaves of Sally) and the addition of the beating scene was unnecessary I enjoyed the mini-series. Ms. Andrews overcame huge odds to bring this story to the public. If you are interested in Sally Hemmings or if you are interested in how movies get made or if you want a glimpse of what it's really like to be black in Hollywood then check this book out.

I think that this book should not have been rated on the basis of grammatical errors. It seems condescending and arrogant. It seems especially irrelevant when very good writers, including Jefferson, would occasionally mispell a few words.

I read the book and saw the movie, and I thought the first part of it, particulary the part relating to the alleged time spent in France, was excellent. I think she did a good job in completing what must have seemed an impossible task which could not have been easy from start to finish.

My only complaint, however, is that in relasing the movie within the desired time frame, there seemed to have been more of an allowance for the misrepresentation or elaboration of many of the facts.

While I do believe that Jefferson fathered these children, I think, the part of the movie depicting the alleged events upon the return to America was entertaining, but should have been researched more for accuracy with regard to the actual depiction of time, dates, and events.

Tina Andrews, in her book gives many reasons for her elaboration in dealing with various matters. But in depicting the life of such an important man as Thomas Jefferson, and especially in how he will be consequently viewed by young and impressionable minds from having watched the movie, I think respectfully, more time should have been devoted for a more accurate depiction.

Raw human emotions, lasting love and bonds of the heart as well as the people involved.

I want to be fair to Ms. Andrews. I give her credit for bringing to light a story that, for so long, historians rejected. We now know that Thomas Jefferson did indeed have a 30-year relationship with Sally Hemings, his slave (and wife's half-sister). What is problematic to me is that her story is largely fictional.

First, we have no knowledge that Sally Hemings could write, let alone read in English and French and Ms. Andrews has her reading both. And while we know that she had the opportunity to stay behind in France and be free, there is no indication of the drama between herself, her brother, and Jefferson. There is a disturbing scene in which Jefferson all but rapes Hemings in Paris, something we have zero documentation of (and frankly, would be WAY out of line for Jefferson's character.) We have no facts that prove that Sally was pregnant when she returned home from France (that story was concocted by Thomas Woodson, who claimed to be the long-lost first son of Jefferson and Hemings and has since been proven not to be). The entire story about Hemings and the slave Henry she was in love with and supposed to marry was a fabrication, as was the rape/whipping scene in the barn. Finally, Andrews assumes a love relationship between Jefferson and Hemings. None of this is documented anywhere at all.

I am all in favor of historical fiction - but real historical fiction takes the facts and makes a marginally fictionalized account, not just for entertainment value, but to gain the public's interest in the truth. I, myself, am writing a historical fiction piece about the Jefferson-Hemings story and I will not include things that are entirely made up. What Ms. Andrews has done is create a piece of fiction using real characters. That's just not the same as historical fiction. It appears that she read Thomas Jefferson: An Intimate History (by Fawn Brodie) and Barbara Chase-Riboud's Sally Hemings: A Novel and skipped over the academic stuff entirely.

I fully support an attempt to bring to light the truth about Jefferson and Hemings and I am not entirely convinced myself that it was not a love-relationship. But, I do believe in responsible reporting. So, if you're looking for something entertaining AND accurate, keep looking.

Interesting, but poorly edited: too many misspellings and grammatical errors detract from admirable account of author's travails in getting the movie made; her clear dislike of the film's director amounts to "telling tales out of school."

The film was successful; she would have been better off forgiving the director's derelictions and hiring a decent manuscript editor.