A Shadow on the Household.

A Shadow on the Household

Bryan Prince

McClelland & Stewart

75 Sherbourne Street, 5th floor, Toronto, ON, Canada, M5A 2P9

9780771071256, $32.99 www.mcclelland.com 1-800-788-1074

A Shadow on the Household: One Enslaved Family's Incredible Struggle for Freedom is the true-life story of a family of slaves--John Weems, his wife Arabella, and their seven children who were divided up among the heirs of slaveowner Adam Robb when he died. Distraught at the dissolution of his family, Weems resolved to buy his family from the slave traders before they were taken into the Deep South. As news of the Weems family tragedy spread, it raised awareness of the plight of divided slave families in both Britain and the United States, lighting a fire under the press and in the consciences of American citizens. Some of the Weems family took their freedom into their own hands, and dared to escape and evade slave catchers rather than wait for rescue; one daughter even learned to dress, walk, and act like a boy as a disguise. An amazing true story of a family fiercely resisting the cruelties thrust upon it.