num_pages: 320
description: It is Paris, 1815. An extraordinarily shaped South African girl known as the Hottentot Venus, dressed only in feathers and beads, swings from a crystal chandelier in the duchess of Berry’s ballroom. Below her, the audience shouts insults and pornographic obscenities. Among these spectators is Napoleon’s physician and the most famous naturalist in Europe, the Baron George Cuvier, whose encounter with her will inspire a theory of race that will change European science forever. Evoking the grand tradition of such “monster” tales as Frankenstein and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Barbara Chase Riboud, prize-winning author of the classic Sally Hemings, again gives voice to an “invisible” of history. In this powerful saga, Sarah Baartman, for more than 200 years known only as the mysterious lady in the glass cage, comes vividly and unforgettably to life.
language: English
title: Hottentot Venus
titlecomplete: Hottentot Venus
characters: Saartjie Baartman
genres: France, Historical, Adult, Race, Adult Fiction, South Africa, Africa, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Womens
ratings_count: 364
places: Paris
awards: awardedAt: 1072944000000
name: Black Caucus of the American Library Association Literary Award, awardedAt: 1072944000000
name: Hurston/Wright Legacy Award
category: Debut Fiction
publisher: Anchor