The Garies And Their Friends

Originally published in London in 1857 and never before available in paperback, The Garies and Their Friends is the second novel published by an African American and the first to chronicle the experience of free blacks in the pre-Civil War northeast. The novel anticipates themes that were to become important in later African American fiction, including miscegenation and 'passing, ' and tells the story of the Garies and their friends, the Ellises, a 'highly respectable and industrious coloured family.'

Mrs. Garie had determined not to be sea-sick upon any account whatever, being fully persuaded she could brave the ocean with impunity, and was, accordingly, very brisk and blithe-looking, as she walked up and down upon the deck of the vessel. In the course of a few hours they sailed out of the harbour, and were soon in the open sea. She began to find out how mistaken she had been, as unmistakable symptoms convinced her of the vanity of all human calculations. "Why, you are not going to be ill, Em, after all your valiant declarations " exclaimed Mr. Garie, supporting her unsteady steps, as they paced to and fro.