Inventing Victoria by Tonya Bolden

Post date: Dec 14, 2020

Essie is a sixteen-year-old Black girl trying to survive in Savannah, GA in the 1880s. She is ashamed of where she came from and wants to do something positive with her life. She tries to educate herself and finds a job at Abby Bowfield’s boardinghouse. While working there, she meets the wealth Miss Dorcas Vashon. Miss Vashon makes Essie an offer she cannot refuse. Essie will have to leave everyone and everything behind. Through hard work and studying, Essie transforms herself into an educated and proper young lady. She changes her name to Victoria. With Miss Vashon's help, Victoria is welcomed in the upper ranks of black society in Washington, D. C. When she finds the man who asks her to marry him, can she tell him the truth?