Behind the Scenes: or, Thirty Years a Slave, and Four Years in the White House (Penguin Classics)

ISBN: 0143039245

Author: Keckley, Elizabeth

Condition: New

Originally published in 1868-when it was attacked as an indecent book authored by a traitorous eavesdropper-Behind the Scenes is the story of Elizabeth Keckley, who began her life as a slave and became a privileged witness to the presidency of Abraham Lincoln. Keckley bought her freedom at the age of thirty-seven and set up a successful dressmaking business in Washington, D.C. She became modiste to Mary Todd Lincoln and in time her friend and confidante, a relationship that continued after Lincolns assassination. In documenting that friendship-often using the First Ladys own letters-Behind the Scenes fuses the slave narrative with the political memoir. It remains extraordinary for its poignancy, candor, and historical perspective.First time in Penguin Classics