Sapphira and the Slave Girl [Paperback]

Willa Cather (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 12, 1975 | Series: Vintage Classics

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.

Editorial Reviews

Review

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. -- The Merriam-Webster Encyclopedia of Literature

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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.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Vintage (April 12, 1975)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0394714342
• ISBN-13: 978-0394714349
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 4.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #443,909 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Old Winchester, VA, November 21, 2010

By 

Karen Kent "KKT" (Winchester VA USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: (The Original) Sapphira And The Slave Girl (1940) (Kindle Edition)

I live in Winchester and recently began reading Willa Cather's books because she was born here. Her most beautiful writing appears in "My Antonia," but I loved "Sapphira and the Slave Girl" too, for taking me back 150 years to the way life was in my area. Cather lived that life, and although her books are fiction, she, like many authors, includes bits of her own life and experiences in her writing. I could follow her up to Timber Ridge, down to Winchester, and was so absorbed in her writing that I felt I'd stepped back in time and was watching her beautifully painted scenes and hearing her realistically-written dialog for myself. I don't read much fiction about the midwest (where most of the rest of her books take place), but I have read all of her midwestern books. They are worth it!

9 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Generates Thoughtful Contemplation, February 2, 2003

By 

Delah (Palm Desert, CA, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Sapphira and the Slave Girl (Paperback)

As I was reading this book (which is thought provoking) I also was thinking thoughts similar to the previous reviewer, i.e., would the black people in the book really think this way in real life; (Example, some of the slaves would talk about the other slaves calling them "no count niggers". One of the slaves was offered freedom and a job in Pennsylvania but turned it down saying he wanted to stay where he was). I assume there were all kinds. All kinds of slave owners and all kinds of slaves. Perhaps some of what the author writes was true for some people but not true for others.

I really find it interesting that The "Master" (Mr. Henry Colbert) and his daughter (Mrs. Blake) would go to such trouble to make sure that Nancy (the slave girl) did not come to any sexual harm by Mr. Colbert's nephew Martin. Would this have really happened or would, in most cases, people in their position have turned a blind eye? Would a slave actually have felt comfortable going to a white person about this trouble?

I found it a bit hard to digest that the slaves were so ultimately loyal and simple and that the slave owners were to some extent so lenient. Was this a truthful depiction based on some facts the author uncovered or were theses all-false assumptions that she accepted as truth?

Of course I am reading this with all of the influences of a 2003 consciousness.

I think this book is perhaps showing a side to slavery that maybe did exist, just perhaps not on a widespread basis. I would hope the author did some type of research to substantiate what she wrote. It does make one contemplate...

Review written by a black person.

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Book, October 14, 2010

By 

Erica"the reader"Jones - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Sapphira and the Slave Girl (Paperback)

Although this book wasn't what I had expected, it was a good book. The book had wonderful details of the setting and all the characters included. Will read again.