The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family by Annette Gordon-Reed

This book won the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize! “A sweeping, prodigiously researched biography.”- Motoko Rich.“A monumental and original book.”- Fergus Bordewich. “A brilliant book…It marks the author as one of the most astute, insightful, and forthright historians of this generation.”- Edmund S. Morgan and Marie Morgan. “[A] very important and powerfully argued history of the Hemings family…[Gordon-Reed] has the imagination and talent of an expert historian.”- Gordon S. Wood.“A riveting and compassionate family portrait that deserves to endure as a model of historical inquiry…stands dramatically apart for its searching intelligence and breadth of humane vision…We owe Annette Gordon-Reed tremendous thanks.”- Kirk Davis Swinehart.  Here's the background: although rumors had existed earlier, it was in 1802 that widely circulated contemporary written accounts first alleged that Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings were sexual partners, and that their unions had resulted in off