Jubilee (novel)
First edition
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| Author | Margaret Walker |
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| Cover artist | William Hofmann |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Historical novel |
| Publisher | Houghton Mifflin |
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Publication date
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1966 |
| Media type | Print (hardcover) |
| Pages | 536 pages |
Jubilee (1966) is a historical novel written by Margaret Walker, which focuses on the story of a biracial slave during the American Civil War. It is set in Georgia and later in various parts of Alabama in the mid-19th century before, during, and after the Civil War.
Jubilee is the semi-fictional account of Vyry Brown, based on the life of author Margaret Walker's grandmother, Margaret Duggans Ware Brown. Vyry Brown is a mixed-race slave — the unacknowledged daughter of her master — who is born on the Dutton plantation in Georgia. The novel follows her experiences from early childhood to adult life.
The story of Vyry's life in the novel spans three major periods of American history: Slavery, the Civil War, and Reconstruction.
The historic novel is set in parts of Georgia and Alabama, such as:
1835–1870
Before the Civil War, cooks were being accused of poisoning their masters, and religion was used to justify the absence and presence of segregation and slavery. Slaves identified themselves with the Old Testament Hebrew slaves who were liberated by Moses, and whites followed the New Testament as priests preached for slavery as they considered it to be a natural and righteous state. Jubilee also takes place during the time of the Civil War and Reconstruction where violence from the Ku Klux Klan was unfortunately common. Specific events from this historical novel (in chronological order) include:
In 1978, Margaret Walker sued Alex Haley, claiming that his 1976 novel Roots: The Saga of an American Family had violated Jubilee's copyright by borrowing from her novel. The case was dismissed.
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