Last week I read a historical fiction book called "Jefferson's Sons." It is about Thomas Jefferson's alleged slave children and it was really interesting. When I told Ben I was reading historical fiction he said that he doesn't like that genre because he mixes up what really happened, and I as I write this I can see where he is coming from. The book talks about the kids as though they are for sure Jefferson's children, and though many people believe that they really were, it isn't proven. However, they were definitely treated differently than the other slaves, in that they were taught to read and write, and we're given violin lessons. Some or all of them ( I can't remember now) also took the last name of Jefferson later in life.
Slavery has always been something that has been fascinating to me, so I enjoyed this book. It points out some interesting paradoxes, like that the man who wrote "all men are created equal " owned hundreds of slaves, and how he lived his life in such a way that hundreds of slaves had to be sold when he died, in order to pay off his debt. I'm probably making it sound like the book tries to get the reader to dislike Jefferson, but I didn't really feel that was the case.
Anyway, it was pretty good. It is a middle-grade book, so it is a pretty easy read, but won't appeal to everyone. I would recommend it, though.
I feel the same way about historical fiction. It's soo intriguing though! This sounds like a good one!
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