Reviews

A Mississippi plantation owner frees, educates & marries a former slave whom he passes as white. The story follows his middle child, Iola Leroy, from her privileged childhood to the devastation brought on their family by the American Civil War.

Written in the late 19th century, the book's style is a product of its time - plot plays second fiddle to social commentary, tropes stand in for characters. So rather than a suspension of disbelief, what the reader experiences is the pure & passionate voice of Frances E. W. Harper herself. It's the voice of an amazing mind that expertly dissects how a hegemony can exploit, debase, & fear its helpless minority.

If writing today, Mrs Harper would probably be panned as a Caucasian's apologist. Writing in the 1890s & a WOC herself, she was fearless. If ever I'm given that dinner attended by my favourite authors, living or dead, I would hope to be seated next to Frances E. W. Harper.

mkwojcie's review against another edition

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3.0

"Slavery had cast such a glamour over the Nation, and so warped the consciences of men, that they failed to read aright the legible transcript of Divine retribution, which was written upon the shuddering earth, where the blood of God's poor children had been as water freely spilled."

I very much enjoyed reading a 19th century woman of color's work, for a change, and highly recommend to those interested in histories of the Civil War--it's the first Civil War novel I've read, for example, that acknowledges and discusses the military service of black men, and adapts conventions of the 19th century domestic novel to examine questions of family separation and chosen kin. It is, like most 19th century sentimental novels, though a bit didactic, lacks much physiological interiority, and is full to the brim with assorted fainting spells. So while I found it interesting from a historical and critical perspective, it was slow going for such a short novel.

emma_behrens_'s review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.0

I read Iola Leroy for an undergraduate course I'm taking on nineteenth-century literature, and I must say, it was the most engaging book on our syllabus thus far.
The novel follows the titular Iola from childhood to adulthood alongside a vibrant cast of characters. The daughter of a plantation owner and a mixed-race freed slave, Iola grew up thinking that she was white, even claiming in the novel's twelfth chapter, "Slavery can't be wrong." However, her tune changes when upon her father's death, a conniving relative sells Iola and her mother into slavery. While Iola is the novel's chief protagonist, the narrative follows a number of lead characters before, during, and after the Civil War. Its heavy reliance on dialogue and short, somewhat-punchy chapters keep the narrative moving at a rather fast pace, at least in comparison to other nineteenth century pieces. The text delves deep into the themes of racism, religion, temperance, and similar late-nineteenth-century American political issues, all while remaining rather optimistic.
While on the whole I found the prose very engaging, there were a handful of moments in the piece that really threw me. As readers learn in the Broadview edition's wonderfully informative introduction, Harper was an abolitionist orator long before she was a novelist, and there are times when her narrative devolves into lectures on morality that (at least to me) take readers out of the story. All in all though, Iola Leroy is a fantastic read, informative and inspiring.