Fortune's Bones: The Manumission Requiem

by

Write a Review

Winner of the Coretta Scott King Book Award

For young readers comes a poetic commemoration of the life of an 18th-century slave, from a past poet laureate and three-time National Book Award finalist

For over 200 years, the Mattatuck Museum in Connecticut has housed a mysterious skeleton. In 1996, community members decided to find out what they could about it. Historians discovered that the bones were those of an enslaved man named Fortune, who was owned by a local doctor. After Fortune’s death, the doctor rendered the bones.

Further research revealed that Fortune had married, had fathered four children, and had been baptized later in life. His bones suggest that after a life of arduous labor, he died in 1798 at about the age of 60. The Manumission Requiem is Marilyn Nelson’s poetic commemoration of Fortune’s life. Detailed notes and archival photographs enhance the reader’s appreciation of the poem.

Fortune's Bones: The Manumission Requiem Reviews | Toppsta

9781932425123

Share on

Videos

If you would like to provide a video review please sign up to our video panel.

Sign up to our newsletter for...

Free Book Giveaways, Recommendations & more

Be the first to write a Review


No one has written a review for 'Fortune's Bones: The Manumission Requiem'

Why not be the first to share your opinion?