Tragic Beauty

Set during the height of the transatlantic slave trade, a 19-year-old girl of mixed Black and white heritage is hidden deep within a free African tribe to protect her from capture. To conceal her pale skin and European features, the tribe coats her in mud and ash and braids her hair with clay, allowing her to blend in as one of their own. But when raiders invade the village, she is captured and sold into slavery.

Purchased by a young, handsome slave owner, her identity is dramatically revealed when she is cleaned - her skin light as ivory beneath the grime, her hair soft and wavy. Her transformation causes a scandal among those who see her, blurring the lines between race, ownership, and desire. Torn between worlds, she becomes a living contradiction in a time when a person's worth was measured by the color of their skin.

NovelToon got authorization from Petal Kerr to publish this work, the content is the author's own point of view, and does not represent the stand of NovelToon.