The force of a feather

the long version

"In the late 1980s, author DeEtta Demaratus stumbled across a story that wouldn't leave her alone. She had been intending to write an article about Biddy Mason, a former slave who, at the time of her death in 1891, had become a well-known philanthropist and one of the wealthiest African American women in California. But at an exhibit honoring Biddy, Demaratus inexplicably knew that the documented history about Biddy was inaccurate and should be corrected. "I came to believe, " she says, "that an exchange was made between me and the past, that an invitation was extended." The Force of a Feather is the result of that invitation.". "Woven through the historical narrative of Biddy and Hannah and the dramatic account of the trial itself is the compelling chronicle of Demaratus's personal journey to confront issues of race and prejudice in her own history. Testifying to the ineffable connections we share as human beings, The Force of a Feather is not only the history of a woman's quest for dignity, but the story of a woman's search for truth - in the historical record and in herself."--BOOK JACKET.