This interesting book is a great piece of historical scholarship, especially because it reassesses "known" history to include information that's not easily known. Historian Greenidge writes about the Grimke family, starting with the lives of the Grimke sisters, Sarah and Angelina. White Quaker abolitionists, these sisters usually get the historical spotlight, when their family--including biracial nephews--gets lost. Greenidge puts a spotlight on the entire family with a litany of historical information and anecdotes.

Sarah and Angelina's brother Henry fathered three biracial children with one of his biracial slaves. These children were Archibald, Frances, and John. Frances's wife Charlotte was a teacher and writer who was an abolitionist herself. Archibald's daughter, Angelina Weld Grimke, was a Harlem Renaissance writer who was also most likely a lesbian. Within the stories of this extended family, various nuances of slavery are explored--how the Grimke sisters were compelled to abolish slavery due to their spirituality, yet still took money and lived off of their brother Henry, a slave owner. How Henry fathered three children with Nancy Wilson, his biracial slave, but still kept them all enslaved. A slave named Stephen who was treated abominably by the family and ended up physically disabled because of it. How Angelina Weld Grimke promoted "educated and cultured" Black people as superior to poor Blacks.

All of these nuances and the stories of the family members build a compelling picture of the layers of both interpersonal and political issues surrounding the institution of slavery. I really enjoyed learning more about this family and how their relationships helped push abolition--even incrementally--forward.