by Paula Byrne
First published 2014
Dido Belle arrives at her great-uncle's estate as a child, the illegitimate daughter of a Royal Navy captain and an enslaved African woman. The Earl of Mansfield, one of England's most influential figures and a slavery opponent, raises her alongside her white cousin Elizabeth in his grand home. Dido occupies an unusual position in eighteenth-century society, treated as family yet aware of her precarious status. When Mansfield commissions a portrait showing both girls as equals, the painting scandalizes English high society. Dido must navigate between her privileged upbringing and the reality of her heritage while her great-uncle fights legal battles over slavery. Paula Byrne reconstructs the life of this remarkable woman who lived at the intersection of aristocracy and abolition, family loyalty and social justice.
Genres: historical-fiction, biographical-fiction, 19th-century, african-american-historical-fiction
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, found-family
Setting: England
Period: 18th Century
306 pages · Kindle Edition · Harper Perennial
Content warnings: racism, slavery