Reuel Briggs, a gifted and melancholy medical student in Boston, conceals his African ancestry and studies mesmerism and the hidden self. A spectral vision, a mysterious singer and a rival’s schemes send him on an archaeological expedition to Ethiopia, where beneath the ruins he discovers a living kingdom and the truth of his own lineage.
Serialised in 1902 and 1903, this early African American speculative novel joins mysticism, adventure and a fierce critique of the colour line. Download the free EPUB.