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The Hottentot Venus

The Life and Death of Sarah Baartman

Rachel Holmes author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Published:17th Sep '20

Should be back in stock very soon

The Hottentot Venus cover

A reissue of Rachel Holmes's classic biography of Sarah Baartman.

‘A significant and timely book … Holmes has produced a laceratingly powerful story’ Frances Wilson, Literary Review

The acclaimed biography of Sarah Baartman, once a slave and later a showgirl

‘A significant and timely book … Holmes has produced a laceratingly powerful story’
Frances Wilson, Literary Review

'Impeccable ... In telling her extraordinary story, Holmes's fascinating book illuminates the forces which dominated her age, and resound in our own' Sunday Telegraph

In 1810 the slave turned showgirl Sarah Baartman, London’s most famous curiosity, became its legal causecélèbre. Famed for her exquisite physique – in particular her shapely bottom – she was stared at, stripped, pinched, painted, worshipped and ridiculed. This talented, tragic young South African woman became a symbol of exploitation, colonialism – and defiance.

In this scintillating and vividly written book Rachel Holmes traces the full arc of Baartman’s extraordinary life for the first time.

Holmes' biography of this unhappy woman is gripping and meticulously researched * Spectator *
Impeccable ... In telling her extraordinary story, Holmes's fascinating book illuminates the forces which dominated her age, and resound in our own * Sunday Telegraph *
A significant and timely book ... Holmes has produced a laceratingly powerful story * Literary Review *
Musters as much factual information as possible, telling her tale with care and respect * Independent *

ISBN: 9781408899113

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: 224g

272 pages