She was deemed unfit for marriage, so in 1856 her father married her to the strongest slave, Virginia.

“Can you read?” The question made him shiver. Fear crossed his face; reading was forbidden to slaves in Virginia. But after a long moment, he said calmly, “Yes, ma’am.” I said to myself, “I know it’s forbidden, but… I couldn’t help it.”

Books are gateways to places I will go.

“What are you reading?” “Anything I can find.” Old newspapers and sometimes books I borrow. I read slowly, but I don’t study well, but I read. “Have you read Shakespeare?”

His eyes widened. “Yes, ma’am. There’s an old copy in the library that no one touches.

I read it at night, when everyone else is asleep.” “What are his works?” “Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, The Tempest.” Her voice brightened involuntarily.

“The Tempest is my favorite.” Prospero rules the island with magic, Ariel loves freedom, Caliba is treated like a monster, but perhaps he’s more human than anyone else. He stopped short. “Excuse me, ma’am.

I talk a lot.” “No.” I smiled, a genuine smile for the first time in that strange conversation. “Go on. Tell me about Calib.”

And then something extraordinary happened. Josiah, the giant slave known as the Beast, began discussing Shakespeare with an intelligence that would have impressed college professors.

He stated: “Calibas is called a beast, but Shakespeare shows us that he was a slave, that his island was stolen from him, and that he was deprived of the presence of his mother.”