EAST LANSING, Mich., June 25, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- The face of American history is smeared with a dark spot. Throughout the nation's history of freedom and equality is a hypocritical side that enslaved people of African descent, even those containing a small quotient in their ancestry. In her new novel, O' Why Should the Spirit of Mortals be Proud? (now available through 1stBooks), author Sally Tyndale Hartley examines the effects and the disgrace of America's enslaved past.
Hartley transports the readers back in time to the slave markets and plantations of the Antebellum South. Jasmine is a strong woman of mixed blood. Although she appears white, her blood was impure to those in power. Placed on the block at the Virginia Fall Fair, Jasmine is sold to a kind plantation owner because one of his slaves has fallen in love with her. The slave, Matthew, takes her for his bride. She tells him of her history, a saga that spans six generations all the way back to her grandmother's people who were part of the Zulu nation.
After they are married, Jasmine gives birth to a baby girl, a product of a forced affair she had before she came to him. Later, they have a son, but Jasmine dies in childbirth. Matthew, distraught, seeks solace as the Civil War begins. He becomes a medic and converts a wagon into an ambulance for the battlefront. His heroism knows no bounds as he struggles to care for those who need it and forget the pain of losing his wife.
Covering the battles of the Civil War in depth, Hartley has studied and research the era for an authentic, detailed account of the evils endured by slaves and their descendents.
"America needs to be happy to include all people of any mixed blood as real Americans, no matter what combination. We are a great nation because we have so many different cultures and races of people from all over the world. We must honor all people of all faiths and all cultures and color," Hartley states.
Hartley is a widow, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother with five grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. She still works as an assistant teacher with small children. Hartley also does modeling and commercials and hopes to work as an extra or stand-in in a movie.
"I really want to be a voice in a Disney movie for children," she says.
She has written poetry, which has been published, along with children's stories, short stories and articles. O' Why Should the Spirit of Mortals be Proud? is her first novel, which took her seven years to research.
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