This was a book on the DAR Book Club list, and is an expanded version of a lecture the author Henry Louis Gates gave back in 2002 on the subject of poet Phillis Wheatley. Gates covers the trials of Phillis Wheatley -- several, including Founding Fathers and Thomas Jefferson -- had doubts that a young woman brought from Africa aboard a slave ship could not only learn to read and write, but compose poetry as well. Gates also delves into the changing views, both positive and negative, towards Wheatley over the years. Although this is a small volume (90 pages not including bibliography), it is big on substance. ( )