The acclaimed biography of Sarah Baartman, once a slave and later a showgirl
'A significant and timely book ... Holmes has produced a laceratingly powerful story' Frances Wilson, Literary Review
'Impeccable ... In telling her extraordinary story, Holmes's fascinating book illuminates the forces which dominated her age, and resound in our own' Sunday Telegraph
In 1810 the slave turned showgirl Sarah Baartman, London's most famous curiosity, became its legal cause célèbre. Famed for her exquisite physique - in particular her shapely bottom - she was stared at, stripped, pinched, painted, worshipped and ridiculed. This talented, tragic young South African woman became a symbol of exploitation, colonialism - and defiance.
In this scintillating and vividly written book Rachel Holmes traces the full arc of Baartman's extraordinary life for the first time.
Autorentext
Rachel Holmes is the author of Eleanor Marx: A Life, The Secret Life of Dr James Barry and The Hottentot Venus: The Life and Death of Saartjie Baartman. She is co-editor of Fifty Shades of Feminism and I Call Myself A Feminist. She lives in London.
Zusammenfassung
The acclaimed biography of Sarah Baartman, once a slave and later a showgirl'A significant and timely book Holmes has produced a laceratingly powerful story' Frances Wilson, Literary Review'Impeccable ... In telling her extraordinary story, Holmes's fascinating book illuminates the forces which dominated her age, and resound in our own' Sunday TelegraphIn 1810 the slave turned showgirl Sarah Baartman, London's most famous curiosity, became its legal cause c l bre. Famed for her exquisite physique in particular her shapely bottom she was stared at, stripped, pinched, painted, worshipped and ridiculed. This talented, tragic young South African woman became a symbol of exploitation, colonialism and defiance.In this scintillating and vividly written book Rachel Holmes traces the full arc of Baartman's extraordinary life for the first time.