Eslanda: The Large and Unconventional Life of Mrs. Paul Robeson
*Starred Review* By virtue of her marriage to artist and activist Paul Robeson, Eslanda Cardozo Goode Robeson lived a life far beyond the restrictions placed on black women of her era. But she was much more than Mrs. Paul Robeson; she was an accomplished, independent woman with a drive and personality that complemented her husband’s and added to the complexities of their marriage. Black-history scholar Ransby draws on the Robeson family archives to present a portrait of a woman who grew to exercise her hunger for global travel and understanding. Essie served as her husband’s business manager and shared his controversial political beliefs, for which both paid an enormous price during the Cold War. Their turbulent 44-year marriage moved beyond infidelities to settle into an open arrangement. Ransby chronicles Essie’s life as wife, manager, and mother but puts rightful emphasis on Essie’s own career and accomplishments. She was an anthropologist and author (coauthoring one book with Pearl Buck), a women’s rights and anticolonialism activist, and, for 20 years, a freelance journalist and UN correspondent, traveling to more than 40 countries on 5 continents. This is an astonishing biography of a woman until now best known for her marriage to her famous husband. --Vanessa Bush