Böcker av Yvonne Hilton

Century is a love story and a tale of resistance. The story is a quest for liberty among Blacks, Native Americans and Whites. Enslaved Blacks, both newly captured and in bondage for generations, defy their masters by loving whomever they please. Whites and Blacks challenge societal mores by falling in love even though it is forbidden. The narrative centers around a woman, a runaway slave trained in the use of herbal medicine and African religion who joins a group of Native Americans as they struggle against being pushed off their land. Resistance is the response of the Native Americans to those who mean to annihilate them. The novel takes place during the 1700s in West Africa, across eastern North America and in the British West Indies.

Peter has run away twice. This time the overseer on the large estate farm in colonial New York decides to use his cat-o-nine-tails on the slave to teach a more thorough lesson. His young apprentice, Martin Tucker, is horrified, but grows to learn the useful application of whipping for the most serious offenses, like running. After all, he is the only white person on the place. Sally is a 14-year-old slave newly arrived on the farm whom Tucker, now 30, chooses to become his mistress, but Sally loves a fellow slave, 16-year-old Lemuel. Over the next few years, Tucker impregnates Sally with five babies in quick succession. Sally eventually figures out a way to meet her lover, Lemuel-and gives birth to Polly, Lemuel''s child. Sally''s first five children resemble Tucker in coloring. Polly, on the other hand, is dark-skinned, like her mother and father, putting Sally in a dangerous situation. Will she be able to hide the existence of this child from Tucker?