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In this captivating collection of short stories, Paul Laurence Dunbar draws on the success of his acclaimed dialect poems to vividly recreate life on southern plantations during the era of slavery. The narratives present a stereotypical image of slaves as dutiful and content workers, dedicated to their seemingly benevolent owners. While Dunbars portrayal sparked criticism and, at times, outrage for its clichéd representations, the book itself proved to be more financially rewarding than his earlier fiction endeavors. (Summary by Special Collections and Archives, Wright State University)

Written in the form of a letter to her granddaughter, the author of this little book describes her plantation childhood, her marriage and parenthood, and her experiences during the Civil War and Reconstruction. In response to what she believed were misconceptions about antebellum Southern slavery, she argues that while some slaveholders were cruel, the majority were conscientious about the well-being of their servants and looked upon them as members of the household.

This sharp-witted, timely novel explores cancel culture, anger, and grief, and challenges the romanticization of America's racist past with humor and heart—for readers of Dear Martin by Nic Stone and Grown by Tiffany D. Jackson. Harriet Douglass lives with her historian father on an old...