What it is is a review of the historiography of the controversy.
GORDON-REED: Well, my thesis-the point of my book, as I stated in the introduction, was not really to write a book to prove that Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings had a relationship. The most compelling element of all, however, is her extensive and careful research, which often allows the evidence to speak for itself. Gordon-Reed also brings a keen intuitive sense of the psychological complexities of human relationshipsrelationships that, in the real world, often develop regardless of status or race. The resulting portraits are engrossing and very personal. Her analysis is accessible, with each chapter revolving around a key figure in the Hemings drama. Possessing both a layperson's unfettered curiosity and a lawyer's logical mind, Annette Gordon-Reed writes with a style and compassion that are irresistible. She has assembled a fascinating and convincing argument: not that the alleged thirty-eight-year liaison necessarily took place but rather that the evidence for its taking place has been denied a fair hearing. With Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings, Annette Gordon-Reed promises to intensify this ongoing debate as she identifies glaring inconsistencies in many noted scholars' evaluations of the existing evidence.
It remains, among all aspects of Jefferson's renowned life, perhaps the most hotly contested topic.
Rumors of Thomas Jefferson's sexual involvement with his slave Sally Hemings have circulated for two centuries. Her fascinating and convincing argument: not that the alleged 38-year liaison necessarily took place but rather that the evidence for its taking place has been denied a fair hearing. Possessing both a layperson's unfettered curiosity and a lawyer's logical mind, Gordon-Reed writes with an irresistible style and compassion about Thomas Jefferson's sexual involvement with his slave Sally Hemings.
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