Venetria K. Patton is Assistant Professor of English and African American Studies at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln.

"Women in Chains establishes the liberational context of black women's fiction through close and careful readings of archetypal text and through the application of sophisticated literary analysis grounded in the living legacy of our own 'talking books.' In this book, Patton walks a weary mile in the shoes of her chosen foremothers and finds her own place in the tradition." — Joanne M. Braxton, The College of William and Mary

• Acknowledgments Introduction 1. The Breeding Ground: The Degendering of Female Slaves 2. The Cult of True Womanhood and Its Revisions 3. Reclaiming True Womanhood 4. Tragic Mulattas: Inventing Black Womanhood 5. The Haunting Effects of Slavery Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index

Venetria K. Patton is Assistant Professor of English and African American Studies at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln.

"Women in Chains establishes the liberational context of black women's fiction through close and careful readings of archetypal text and through the application of sophisticated literary analysis grounded in the living legacy of our own 'talking books.' In this book, Patton walks a weary mile in the shoes of her chosen foremothers and finds her own place in the tradition." — Joanne M. Braxton, The College of William and Mary

• Acknowledgments Introduction 1. The Breeding Ground: The Degendering of Female Slaves 2. The Cult of True Womanhood and Its Revisions 3. Reclaiming True Womanhood 4. Tragic Mulattas: Inventing Black Womanhood 5. The Haunting Effects of Slavery Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index

Venetria K. Patton is Assistant Professor of English and African American Studies at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln.

"Women in Chains establishes the liberational context of black women's fiction through close and careful readings of archetypal text and through the application of sophisticated literary analysis grounded in the living legacy of our own 'talking books.' In this book, Patton walks a weary mile in the shoes of her chosen foremothers and finds her own place in the tradition." — Joanne M. Braxton, The College of William and Mary

• Acknowledgments Introduction 1. The Breeding Ground: The Degendering of Female Slaves 2. The Cult of True Womanhood and Its Revisions 3. Reclaiming True Womanhood 4. Tragic Mulattas: Inventing Black Womanhood 5. The Haunting Effects of Slavery Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index