Books like The wedding gift by Marlen Suyapa Bodden
In 19th‑century Alabama, Cornelius Allen, owner of a sprawling plantation, attempts to secure his family's fortunes by marrying his daughter Clarissa to a prosperous heir. Their union is short‑lived when Clarissa’s husband, Thomas, disowns their newborn son, deeming him illegitimate, and banishes both Clarissa and the young collateral, Sarah, back to the Allen house. Sarah, a slave woman, is revealed to be Allen’s own daughter, born to his enslaved woman Emmeline—a fact that upends the family's lineage and social standing. As the double secret strains ties between master, slave, and kin, the once‑dominant Allen household faces a cascade of betrayals, moral reckonings, and challenges that threaten to collapse its legacy.
First publish date: 2009
Genre: Historical Fiction/19th Century Historical Fiction
Authors: Marlen Suyapa Bodden
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