Author(s): Rachel Holmes

Biography/Memoir

'A significant and timely book - Holmes has produced a laceratingly powerful story' Frances Wilson, Literary Review

In 1810 the slave turned showgirl Sarah Baartman, London's most famous curiosity, became its legal cause cel bre. Famed for her exquisite physique in particular her shapely bottom she was stared at, stripped, pinched, painted, worshipped and ridiculed. This talented, tragic young South African woman became a symbol of exploitation, colonialism and defiance.
In this scintillating and vividly written book Rachel Holmes traces the full arc of Baartman's extraordinary life for the first time.