MODERN MEDEA A Family Story of Slavery and Child-Murder From the Old South

Softcover. On a Sunday night in January 1856, a 22yr old Kentucky slave named Margaret Garner gathered up her family and raced north, towards freedom. When capture was at hand, Margaret turned on her children with a knife rather than see them returned to a life of slavery. Her child-murder electrified American society, and it led to the country's longest, most spectacular fugitive-slave trial. Garner's story inspired numerous fictional treatments (including Toni Morrison's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, 'Beloved'), but the author was the first nonfiction writer to tackle this astonishing story. His dramatic tale also provides a nuanced portrait of the not-so-genteel Southern culture of slavery and its destructive effect on all who lived with it and in it. Illus., Epilogue, Notes, Bibliog. and Index. 352pp. trade size softcover. From the library of true crime writer, Wilfred Gregg, with his personal b/plate. Nr. F.