Harry Kraus
(Harry Kraus, Publisher)
ASIN: B012PZCD9S
July 2015/4019 KB/310 pages/$3.99
The accidental drowning of her young son shattered Lisa Griffin’s perfect life. She finds her own breath again as she writes the gripping narrative of slave Sally Hemings’ relationship with her white master and eventual president, Thomas Jefferson. As she gives Sally the voice she never had, Lisa finds her own way to freedom from an oppressive marriage to an older African American surgeon.
A contemporary rich, white doctor’s wife.
A black colonial slave.
Separated by time, race, and money.
United by betrayal. Bonded by tragedy. One in their search for freedom.
This controversial novel dares to look realistically at Jefferson's complicated relationship (Master-slave, lover) with Sally Hemings. Granted, he was "progressive" for his time and advocated abolition of slavery, but he never granted his long-time lover, Sally Hemings, her freedom and the children he bore with her, although 7/8th caucasian, were nevertheless, his property. "One Drop of Me" refers to the fact that it only took one drop of black blood to make a person a slave.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Harry loves miniature Schnauzers and motorcycles and is passionate about spreading the good news of GRACE. In addition to his love of writing fiction, he has written three non-fiction books: Breathing Grace, The Cure, and Domesticated Jesus.
Visit his blog: www.3menwalkintoablog.com
MY THOUGHTS
Any book by Harry Kraus is a must-read for me, for I know that it will be a captivating story, stirring my heart and causing me to ponder its message long after the last sentence is read. I immediately downloaded One Drop of Me as soon as it was available and read it virtually non-stop. An author who isn't shy about making the reader a little uncomfortable to make his point, Kraus risks alienating some of his more conservative fans with this self-published work that takes a hard and candid look at relationships, oppression, lust, and power. He expertly weaves a contemporary tale with that of the fictionalized (though grounded in research as well as supposition) story of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings, the slave who bore six of his children. Some moments made me smile (Kraus knows more about lipstick than I ever will!), but this is not a particularly easy read, although I couldn't put it down. While not graphic, this book does involve individuals having sex outside of marriage. However, anyone who starts this book and then tosses it aside without finishing it will miss the benefit of the powerful message of what unconditional love, forgiveness, and freedom truly mean. Kudos to Kraus for tackling such a difficult subject and doing it so well. Add this compelling novel to your library today. Highly recommended.
For a long time after writing this novel, I felt it would offend my conservative Christian readers. To get around that, my agent shopped the novel around under a pseudonym, but no one seemed to want to publish an unknown author with an unusual format (split time, "play within a novel"). After months of rejections, I "cleaned up" the novel so that it could be published under my name without the risk of offending my readers. I'm sure some will still be upset by some of the adult situations, but I felt the subject matter (white owners sexual abuse of their slaves) needed to be told and couldn't be completely softened. Thanks, Linda, for an honest look.
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