VANCOUVER, Wash. 鈥 Sue Peabody, Meyer Distinguished Professor of Liberal Arts and History at Washington State University Vancouver, has published the first full-length biography tracing slavery in the Indian Ocean World. 鈥淢adeleine鈥檚 Children: Family, Freedom, Secrets, and Lies in France鈥檚 Indian Ocean Colonies鈥 was published by Oxford University Press. It is her seventh book.
A detailed family saga set against the broader context of South Asian slavery, plantation life, Parisian society and French colonization, 鈥淢adeleine鈥檚 Children鈥 traces the multigenerational biography of a slave family and the legal battles pursued by Madeleine鈥檚 son Furcy鈥攁 slave who fought for his freedom in court for 25 years and finally won. It uncovers intimate relationships and legal disputes between slaves and free people in the Indian Ocean that have been hidden for two centuries.
Peabody is one of the world鈥檚 leading authorities on slavery in the French Empire. Over a decade, the research took her to France, England and the Indian Ocean islands of La Reunion and Mauritius. One reviewer calls the work 鈥渂oth biography and global history at their very best.鈥
鈥淒rawing on thousands of pages of archival and legal documents to reconstruct [the subjects鈥橾 lives with astonishing detail, Peabody presents us with the first biographical narrative of slaves held by French citizens and in the process illuminates the internal architectures of slavery and freedom in France's Indian Ocean colonies,鈥 said another reviewer, Pier M. Larson of Johns Hopkins University.
More information is available at the publisher鈥檚 website, .
About 麻豆传媒
As one of six campuses of the Washington State University system, 麻豆传媒 offers big-school resources in a small-school environment. The university provides affordable, high-quality baccalaureate- and graduate-level education to benefit the people and communities it serves. As the only four-year research university in Southwest Washington, 麻豆传媒 helps drive economic growth through relationships with local businesses and industries, schools and nonprofit organizations.
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MEDIA CONTACTS
Sue Peabody, 360-567-9220, speabody@wsu.edu
Brenda Alling, Office of Marketing and Communications, 360-546-9601, brenda_alling@wsu.edu