N. M. Ledgin

Sally of Monticello, Founding Mother exploded my assumption about the relationship between the slave Sally Hemings and the man who owned her, Thomas Jefferson. I assumed she was a victim of circumstance, but this novel proved me wrong. I was hooked from the beginning . . . and satisfied at the end.

Fourteen-year-old Sally was sent to Paris to care for the widowed Jefferson (serving as U. S. Minister to France) and his two daughters. Since France did not recognize slavery, she could have remained there as a free woman. In this novel by N. M. Ledgin, she seduced Jefferson and returned to Monticello to remain by his side, choosing slavery over freedom. Love over independence.

The book is a fictionalized account of their thirty-eight year relationship, based on historical documentation (including Jefferson’s memorandum books and family letters) and filled in with imagination. I liked this version of Sally Hemings: a pragmatic woman who claimed a position of power within the Jefferson household.

Her story came alive for me in the small moments. An early conversation with her mother revealed that Sally looked like a white woman. Clashes with Jefferson’s older daughter suggested the entire state of Virginia suspected a Jefferson/Hemings relationship. Gossip sessions with a free black shop owner let me in on the daily logistics of black-white relations in 1800s Charlottesville. I found these exchanges satisfying, because they put a flesh-and-blood face on a historical controversy.

Other small moments were missing. The novel portrayed a Sally Hemings imbued with fierce love and loyalty, but those qualities seemed directed only toward Jefferson. We seldom see her expressing affection for her children. Three of them died as babies, yet we never witness her tending their graves. The addition of scenes like that would have created a character of greater emotional depth.

I was grateful the author included a list of family connections in the appendix. It helped me sort out the entangled and bizarre relationships that slavery at Monticello created. Jefferson’s wife was Sally Hemings’ half sister, which made him her brother-in-law. His daughters were her nieces. And his children were his property.

Sally of Monticello, Founding Mother informed, entertained and challenged me. I happily recommend it, especially to those who love historical fiction and anyone fascinated by Thomas Jefferson.
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