First published in 1854, The Slave Son is a dramatic tale of love and slavery, set against the vibrant and volatile background of Trinidad in the days before emancipation. Inspired by Harriet Beecher Stowe’s abolitionist writing, the central romance of Belfond and Laurine is played out in a world of repression and freedom, ships captains and slaves. Little known and for a long time unavailable, this powerful work occupies an important position in a literary tradition longer and deeper than has been widely realized.