The Bridgetower Sonata: Sonata Mulattica

In this vividly imagined historical novel, acclaimed Congolese author Emmanuel Dongala has focused his laser-sharp wit on the life and times of George Bridgetower, a young violin prodigy, who, at the age of nine, took the courtly world of 18th century Europe by storm—and surprise, given the youth's unusual origins: for George was of mixed-race parentage, known in the parlance of the day as a mulatto. Though his opportunistic father and de facto manager was Barbadan and dark-skinned, while h...