8 h 26 minAudiobook12 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What happens when the truth about your family destroys the safety of everything you know?
Iola Leroy grows up in comfort, studies in the North, and believes she is white. When her father dies, she returns to a household whose secret leaves her exposed to slavery. Frances Ellen Watkins Harper follows a young woman whose education and sheltered life cannot protect her from the law.
Through slavery, the Civil War, and Reconstruction, Iola's story asks what freedom requires beyond survival. Her mother, Marie Leroy, hides her past to protect her children, while Uncle Daniel draws on faith and hard-earned wisdom. Alongside loss and rescue, Harper makes room for searching conversations about race, work, voting, religion, and the responsibilities of education.
What you’ll discover
- A home hiding danger Enter a comfortable household where a concealed past puts the family's safety at risk.
- Identity under pressure Follow Iola as the truth about her birth challenges everything she understands about belonging.
- Wisdom beyond the schoolroom Meet Uncle Daniel, whose deep faith helps him endure slavery and sustain others.
- Freedom beyond survival Explore the work of building homes, securing rights, and seeking family after the war.
- Ideas worth wrestling with Consider Harper's searching questions about education, service, and what people owe one another.
Who will love it
For readers who love nineteenth century American fiction, stories of identity and freedom, and a Black woman's view of Reconstruction. Iola's story brings together family secrets, reunions, and questions of justice, education and duty.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A comfortable home built on a secret
- Enslaved people wait and watch for freedom
- A father's death shatters Iola's world
- The war arrives and rescue comes
- A proposal Iola cannot accept
- Freedom brings new questions and a search for family
- Identity means choosing your people
- Education, work and uplift are the road ahead
- How Harper tells the story
Who’s who
- Iola LeroyA well-educated young woman raised as white, who loses her place in the world and then chooses to serve her people.
- Marie LeroyIola's mother, once enslaved and later freed, who loves her husband and children and hides her past to protect them.
- Eugene LeroyIola's father, a wealthy Mississippi planter who marries a freed woman and tries to shield his children from the law.
- Harry LeroyIola's brother, who must face the truth about his birth and decides where his loyalty lies.
- Alfred LorraineA relative of Eugene who uses the law to seize the family's property and expose its secret.
- Dr. GreshamA kind white Union doctor who admires Iola and asks her to share his life.
- Dr. Frank LatimerA thoughtful Black physician devoted to serving the freed people, whose aims echo Iola's own.
- Uncle DanielAn older enslaved man of deep faith and wisdom who watches for freedom and helps others endure.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet, computer or Kindle, with the type as large as you like.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 8 h 26 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 12 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
eBooks and audiobooks open right away. Download EPUB or PDF, or send the book to your Kindle. Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout.
How it works
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read, listen and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook, audiobook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, 5 accounts for the price of one.
- We remind you first. Free for 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment. Then 0,14 USD a day in your first year on the yearly plan and 0,27 USD a day after, or 0,66 USD a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
Bought on its own? Every eBook, audiobook and printed book you buy without the plan carries our 30-day money-back guarantee.
25 languages, side by side
Read and hear Iola Leroy, ovvero Ombre sollevate in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Iola Leroy, ovvero Ombre sollevate
by Frances Ellen Watkins Harper · 1892
Raised to believe she is white, Iola discovers a family secret that puts her freedom and identity at stake.
Medium level5–10 hours to read25 languages
Excellent
- Read or listen
- 25 languages, side by side
- Print and large print at cost
- 5 accounts for the price of one
Free for 3 months · starts right away, on any device
Read free3 months free · cancel anytimeFree for 3 months, then 0,14 USD a dayCancel anytimeHow it works
In short
Iola Leroy, or Shadows Uplifted, is a novel by Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, published in 1892. Harper was a poet, lecturer and reformer who had spent decades speaking against slavery and for the rights of Black Americans and of women.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A comfortable home built on a secret
The Leroy household looks happy, and the book tells its story by looking back. Eugene Leroy is a wealthy Mississippi planter. His wife, Marie, was once enslaved, and she has been freed and educated. Eugene loves her, and he has married her, though the law and the neighbors would treat the marriage with scorn.
The couple have children, among them Iola and her brother Harry. Eugene and Marie decide to keep the children in ignorance of their mother's origins. Because both children look white, they can be raised as white children, and the parents hope to protect them. Iola is sent North to school, where she studies hard and grows into a thoughtful, steady young woman.
Free for 3 months · Cancel anytime
Free gifts
580 USD in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, 5 accounts for the price of one. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
170 USDFREE - Every audiobookIn 25 languages, any device
120 USDFREE - 15-minute summariesRead or listen, in 25 languages
60 USDFREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
60 USDFREE - 5 accounts for the price of oneA shelf for everyone at home
170 USDFREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
Questions about Iola Leroy, ovvero Ombre sollevate
Can I read it free?
Yes. The first key idea of the 15-minute summary is free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 3 months, with the eBook to keep, plus 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
Can I buy the printed book?
Soon. The paperback, hardcover and large print editions are being prepared. Choose Paperback or Hardcover above, leave your email, and we tell you the day you can order it, printed at cost.
How many accounts do I get?
Five, for the price of one: you and 4 more people, each with their own login, shelf and their own place in every book.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. Nothing is charged in your first 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment.
What is Iola Leroy about?
It follows Iola, a young woman raised to think she is white, who learns that her mother was enslaved. She faces slavery, serves in the Civil War and works for her people during Reconstruction.
When was Iola Leroy written and is it a true story?
Harper published it in 1892. It is fiction, but it draws on real conditions of slavery, the war and Reconstruction, and on the causes Harper spoke for as a reformer.
What does Shadows Uplifted mean in the title?
It points to the hope that the long darkness of slavery and prejudice can be lifted. The phrase suggests a people moving from suffering toward education, dignity and light.
The author
Frances Ellen Watkins Harper
1825–1911 · American poet and abolitionist
Frances Ellen Watkins Harper (1825–1911) was an American poet, novelist, and lecturer. She was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and later lived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where she died. She published poetry collections and the novel Iola Leroy in 1892. She also spoke publicly against slavery and supported women’s voting rights.
More like this
Our mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages, new audiobooks and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
