About the Author

Elizabeth Urban Alexander is visiting assistant professor of history and interdisciplinary studies at Texas Wesleyan University.

Reviews

"A rich courtroom drama as well as heart-wrenching story of a woman caught between her own father's denial and a judicial system that favored influence and privilege, qualities that she, sadly, did not possess." - New Orleans Times-Picayune; "In exploring the attempt to prove Gaines's legitimacy, Alexander takes the reader down tangential paths of social history that become as entertaining as the case itself.... [She] has made wonderful use of her evidence in exploring the relationship between culture, gender, family, and the law." - Journal of the Early American Republic; "It is as interesting a story now as it was to the mass reading public in the nineteenth century." - Louisiana History"

"A rich courtroom drama as well as heart-wrenching story of a woman caught between her own father's denial and a judicial system that favored influence and privilege, qualities that she, sadly, did not possess." - New Orleans Times-Picayune; "In exploring the attempt to prove Gaines's legitimacy, Alexander takes the reader down tangential paths of social history that become as entertaining as the case itself.... [She] has made wonderful use of her evidence in exploring the relationship between culture, gender, family, and the law." - Journal of the Early American Republic; "It is as interesting a story now as it was to the mass reading public in the nineteenth century." - Louisiana History"