Overview
Before the Civil War, Black opera singer Elizabeth Taylor Greenfield reigned supreme on Northern stagesāeven performing at Buckingham Palace. Novelist Tiffany L Warren brings this remarkable but forgotten divaās remarkable story to life for modern readers.
Born into slavery on a Mississippi plantation, Elizabeth Taylor Greenfield has been raised in the safety of Philadelphiaās Quaker community by a wealthy adoptive mother. Sheltered and educated, Elizaās 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 Elizaās world is thrown into a tailspin when her mother dies.
Elizaās inheritance is contested by her motherās white cousins, leaving her few options. She can marry her longtime beau, Lucien, though she has no desire to be a wife and mother. Or she can work as a tutor for rich families. Her motherās dying wish was for Eliza to pursue her talent and become a professional singer, but that grand vision now seems out of reach.
When a chance performance on a steamboat to Buffalo, New York, leads to a surprising opportunity, fearless Eliza seizes her moment. Within a year she is touring America, singing to packed houses, and igniting controversy wherever she goes. In a country captivated by āthe Swedish Nightingaleā Jenny Lind, Eliza is billed by tour promoters as āthe Black Swan.ā An unlikely diva, Eliza is tall, dark-skinned, and robust of figure compared to the petite European prima donna, but even the harshest critics canāt deny Elizaās extraordinary gift. Menaced by racist crowds, threatened by slave-catchers who kidnap free Black people, Eliza lives a public life full of risk, but one which also holds the promise of great riches, and the freedoms those buy.
From the churches of Philadelphia to Queen Victoriaās salon in Buckingham Palace, Eliza Greenfield will blaze her own pathāwith a voice that no listener will ever forget.
This book title, The Unexpected Diva (A Novel), ISBN: 9780063322134, by Tiffany L. Warren, published by HarperCollins (January 7, 2025) is available in paperback. Our minimum order quantity is 25 copies. All standard bulk book orders ship FREE in the continental USA and delivered in 4-10 business days.
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