Summary
“Born into slavery on a Mississippi plantation, Elizabeth Taylor Greenfield has been raised in the safety of Philadelphia’s Quaker community by a wealthy adoptive mother. Sheltered and educated, Eliza’s happy childhood always included music lessons to nurture her unique gift: a glorious three octave singing voice that leaves listeners in awe. But on the eve of her twenty-fourth birthday, young Eliza’s world is thrown into a tailspin when her mother dies.”
My thoughts…
I enjoy reading historical fiction because while doing something I love, which is being transported away while reading a book, I am also learning about an aspect of history that is often new to me. I especially enjoy learning little-known historical facts about black people in history. While I was scanning the books in Net Galley to find one to request, I noticed the cover of this book with a full-figured black woman in a gown on a stage and had to click to find out what it was about. I had completed a book with my book club called ‘Sing Her Name’ by Rosalyn Story. This, too, was a historical fiction about the real-life Sissieretta Jones, who was a soprano singer from 1887 to 1915. In ‘The Unexpected Diva’ by Tiffany L. Warren, the author also took some historical information about the real-life, Elizabeth Taylor Greenfield (Eliza) popularly known as “The Black Swan”, who was a predecessor of Sissieretta, who was born into slavery in 1817. Her family was manumitted by Elizabeth H. Greenfield, the widow of a former plantation owner, upon his death. Elizabeth H. paid for young Elizabeth’s family to travel to Liberia. Young Eliza stayed in America with Elizabeth, and they travelled to Philadelphia to live in a Quaker community where Eliza was educated and her gift of singing was encouraged and the expenses of private training were paid for by an adopted guardian.
The author beautifully crafted a story around the remaining documents supporting the existence of Eliza, such as playbills and articles. I really enjoyed the pacing of the story from her younger days into late adulthood. I looked forward to dipping back into the story each night before I went to bed to discover more about Eliza and her journey to become a prima donna. Not only that, but I really appreciated the way Ms. Warren integrated historical figures such as Frederick Douglass, W.E.B. Du Bois, and Harriet Beecher Stowe into the story it helped to ground the story in time and help the reader settle into the time period.
I also felt the character development of the main and secondary characters of the story were done well, and they added to the ‘adventure’ of the story. Readers will be able to empathize with Eliza’s plight via the struggles presented for her as a single female in a time in which marriage and child-rearing was the preferred route rather than pursuing a career outside the home. And the realities of being a black person in a time when the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 allowed any black person free or enslaved to be captured and sold into slavery. This had to severely hinder things that seem so basic, such as movement around town for fear of capture. The author did a great job of keeping that in the forefront of the readers’ mind without detracting to the story in any way.
When I graduated from college and was working one of my first jobs, I first heard of Marian Anderson, a black American contralto opera singer who performed concerts throughout the U.S. and Europe between 1925 and 1965. I quickly purchased one of her albums and began listening to her. That was my first experience listening to a black operatic singer, and I was so proud. Little did I know that there was another ‘Hidden Figure’ that sang classical music and performed in both the US and Europe many decades prior. For this and many other reasons, I am grateful that Ms. Warren wrote this book and created such an engaging story to bring this person to light. I highly recommend people read this story. Even though it is a historical fiction, readers will have a hard time not going online to read more about this amazing woman.
