Clotel: Or, the Presidents Daughter : A Narrative of Slave Life in the United States
by By Brown, William Wells and Farrison, William Edward
Category: Fiction , General

Originally published in 1853, Clotel is the first novel by an African American. William Wells Brown, a contemporary of Frederick Douglass, was well known for his abolitionist activities. In Clotel, the author focuses on the experiences of a slave woman: Brown treats the themes of gender, race, and slavery in distinctive ways, highlighting the mutability of identity as well as the absurdities and cruelties of slavery.