Heiresses

'Heiresses captures the many intimate stories behind the money laundering of enslavers' wealth. Kaufmann's writing style is neither judgy nor cold but a perfect balance of critical humour and searing historical insight. A must-read.' —Paterson Joseph, actor and author of The Secret Diaries of Charles Ignatius Sancho 'A startling insight into the lives of the real “Mrs Rochesters”. The role of women in plantation slavery, as perpetrators and victims is uncovered by a historian at the height of her powers.' —Anita Anand, author of The Patient Assassin and co-host of Empire 'Vivid, shocking and compulsively readable: these stories of greed, lust and betrayal, all driven by a ruling elite that was racist and misogynist to its core, are so important as we seek an honest reckoning with Britain's colonial history. Miranda Kaufmann is not just a fine investigative historian – she is a superb story-teller.' —Alex Renton, author of Blood Legacy 'This marvellously written tale of nine heiresses forging their thoroughly absorbing lives with money from slavery gives us an entirely fresh insight into Georgian and Victorian Britain, but more importantly it is also a triumph of reparative history.' —Alan Lester, Professor of Historical Geography at the University of Sussex 'Heiresses is truly remarkable. This superb book will guide thousands into a world new to them… and make them think… reflect…. think… think again.' —Marika Sherwood 'A fresh perspective on Britain’s involvement in slavery... A meticulously researched history.' —Kirkus 'An impeccably researched and penetrating new history of the transatlantic slavery system, revealing the role of heiresses in bringing slavery wealth to British society. Forensic, rigorous and deeply ethical, the book is written in flawless prose. Kaufmann's revelatory chapter on Jane Austen alone entirely redefines a favoured author's relationship with slavery and abolition.' —Corinne Fowler, author of Our Island Stories 'Heiresses takes us on a breath-taking tour of the eighteenth-century social world. It shows us, dramatically and undeniably, that women as well as men played a foundational part in the gruesome industry of transatlantic enslavement, and that the profits they garnered laced together almost every part of Georgian Britain and its empire. Powerfully written and scrupulously researched, Miranda Kaufmann's new book is a standing rebuke to those who would deny the facts of history, simply because they challenge an invented national self-image.' —David Andress, author of The French Revolution