Due Unto: Denmark Vesey's Story

Denmark Vesey is known to history as the leader of an attempted slave revolt in Charleston, S.C., in 1822. This novel from Jones depicts Vesey's life: his youth, his enslavement, his emancipation, and his re-enslavement. Later, while in Charleston, in 1799, Vesey won a lottery prize that allowed him to buy his freedom, though he was later arrested and executed for planning the slave revolt. Jones creates a plausible depiction of Vesey's life and struggle, as well as ably rendering the tragedy and indignation of slave life. While the addition of a love story slows the novel's pace and is somewhat distracting from the central narrative, fans of historical fiction will find Vesey's story fascinating and well told.