Pudd'nhead Wilson: A Novel of Identity and Justice in the American South

Switched at birth by a female slave who fears for her infant son's life, a light-skinned child changes places with the master's white son. This simple premise underlies Twain's engrossing 19th-century tale of reversed identities, an eccentric detective, a horrible crime, and a tense courtroom scene. Infused with characteristic Twain humor, the novel also fiercely condemns a racially prejudiced society that condoned the institution of slavery.