JEFFERSON'S SONS

The author faithfully portrays the multiracial children of Thomas Jefferson from letters and historical records. But it’s Adenrele Ojo’s narration that infuses this history with their emotional lives. How did it feel to know that they could not call their father, the president, Papa? Or to know that the dark skin of some could keep them from “passing” for white as their lighter-skinned siblings did? Ojo portrays Sally Hemings’s tenderness as she explains these complexities to her four children and her fierceness as she demands that they put their true selves before their slave identities. As the story moves through the viewpoints of several characters associated with Jefferson’s plantation, Ojo develops and distinguishes each one while maintaining the flow. S.W. © AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine [Published: NOVEMBER 2011]