From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Who was Sally Miller: was she Salomé Müller, a long-lost German immigrant girl enslaved by a Southern planter? Or was she really a light-skinned black woman, shrewd enough to exploit her only opportunity for freedom? Bailey (The White Diver of Broome) keeps us guessing until the end in this page-turning true courtroom drama of 19th-century New Orleans. Bailey opens the story in 1843, when a friend of the Schubers—a local family of German immigrants—discovered Miller outside her owner Louis Belmonti's house. Struck by her remarkable resemblance to their late cousin Dorothea Müller, and unusual birthmarks exactly like he daughter Salomé's, the Schubers claimed Sally as kin and set about trying to prove her identity as Salomé and obtain her freedom. Bailey brings to life the fierce legal proceedings with vivid strokes. The case was controversial because it wasn't Belmonti but her previous owner, the perfect Southern gentleman John Fitz Miller, who faced disgrace if proved to have forced a white German girl into slavery. Bailey elucidates the bewildering array of possible identities turned up for Sally by numerous witnesses as well as the complexities of 19th-century Louisiana slave law and the status of black women. Sally herself remains an enigma at the center of this highly engrossing tale. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.


From School Library Journal
Adult/High School–A fascinating mystery obsessed and polarized New Orleans from 1843 until its shocking conclusion in 1849. A close-knit community of German immigrants made an amazing claim: they had seen a young slave woman whom they were sure was the daughter of a relative who had sailed with them from Holland years earlier. After her parents died, the girl and her sister had been sent off to become indentured servants. No one knew what had happened to them, but the community was positive that the slave woman known as Mary or Brigit Wilson was really Salome Muller. Lawyers were assembled, and the battle lines were drawn. The Germans maintained that an unscrupulous former owner, John Fitz Miller, had enslaved an indentured child and later sold her to her current owner. Miller hired a "dream team" to press his claim that Mary was merely a clever slave, duping a bunch of credulous immigrants. Adding to the puzzle was her lack of memory of a German childhood and Miller's inability to prove that he had bought her. Bailey has provided a rich, vibrant New Orleans setting. Using court transcripts, pamphlets produced by both sides, newspaper stories, and biographies, he has produced a courtroom thriller with unexpected twists and turns. The details he includes about the horrors of the immigrant experience, and his discussions of laws governing slave owners, make this a valuable history lesson as well.–Kathy Tewell, Chantilly Regional Library, VA


From Bookmarks Magazine
Critics found few faults with Bailey’s meticulous research and credited him for including all the elements of epic historical fiction in a nonfiction book. The narrative functions well on two levels: it’s both a riveting story and an intriguing history lesson, made more so with fine portraits of colorful characters (real people) and the society in which they lived. The author offers his own conclusion to the mystery, which some critics found shocking and one thought too pat to ring true. Regardless, this "diligent researcher and gifted storyteller" (Washington Post) has crafted an eye-opening portrait of a mysterious woman, and "tells her engrossing story… with polish and verve, weaving history and mystery neatly together" (Miami Herald).Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc.


From Booklist
Bailey plays historical detective as he re-creates one of the most sensational trial cases of the nineteenth century. Recognized by a former neighbor in New Orleans in 1843 as Salome Muller, the dusky-skinned daughter of German immigrants who disappeared 25 years earlier, Sally Miller, a slave with virtually no memory of her "white" past, quickly became the focal point of a controversial lawsuit waged on her behalf to gain her freedom. In addition to attempting to unravel this compelling mystery, Bailey also details the complex network of slave laws that necessarily impacted the course of this intriguing case. Putting his own spin on the courtroom proceedings, the author views this historical drama through a modern lens. This fast-paced legal reconstruction reads like a work of fiction. Margaret Flanagan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Book Description
It is a spring morning in New Orleans, 1843. In the Spanish Quarter, on a street lined with flophouses and gambling dens, Madame Carl recognizes the face of a German girl who disappeared twenty-five years earlier. But the olive-skinned woman is a slave, with no memory of a "white" past. And yet her resemblance to her mother is striking, and she bears two telltale birthmarks. Had a defenseless European orphan been illegally enslaved, or was she an imposter? So begins one of the most celebrated and sensational trials of nineteenth-century America. In brilliant novelistic detail, award-winning historian John Bailey uses Miller's dramatic trial to describe the fascinating laws and customs surrounding slavery, immigration, and racial mixing. Did Miller, as her relatives sought to prove, arrive from Germany under perilous circumstances as an indentured servant or was she, as her master claimed, a slave for life? The trial pits a humble community of German immigrants against a hardened capitalist and one of the most flamboyant lawyers of his time. Bailey follows the case's incredible twists and turns all the way to the Supreme Court and comes to a shocking conclusion in this investigative history that reads like a suspense novel.

FROM OUR EDITORS

The Barnes & Noble Review from Discover Great New Writers
John Bailey has written a thoroughly researched, in-depth account of slavery in 19th-century New Orleans. Hmm. Sounds like an arduous read, filled with boring historical detail, right? Wrong. Bailey's work is fast-paced and exhilarating, and it reads like a detective novel, full of intrigue, suspense and compelling courtroom drama. In fact, readers will have to keep reminding themselves that Bailey's tale is no work of fiction, but a true story.

One spring morning in 1843, in the Spanish Quarter of New Orleans, a German immigrant recognizes the face of a young German girl who had disappeared 25 years earlier. But this girl is a slave -- with no memory of her "white" past. Is she truly Mary Miller, as she claims? Or Salom￯﾿ﾽ M￯﾿ﾽller, enslaved as an orphaned child of German immigrants? And why can't she remember what happened to her? So begins the riveting saga of one woman's fight for freedom in what would become one of the most sensational legal cases in American history.

Like a sleuth, Bailey masterfully leads readers through a maze of evidence, picking up clues from newspapers, pamphlets, court transcripts, and eyewitness accounts. Through startling twists and turns, he unravels the mystery that once had all of New Orleans in its grip. After the first few pages, it will grab you, too. (Spring 2005 Selection)

FROM THE PUBLISHER

"It is a bright, spring morning in New Orleans, 1843. In the Spanish Quarter, on a street lined with flophouses and gambling dens, Madame Carl Rouff recognizes a face from her past. It is the face of Salome Muller, her best friend's daughter who disappeared twenty-five years earlier. But the young olive-skinned woman claims her name is Mary Miller - she is the property of a Frenchman who owns a nearby cabaret. She is a slave, with no memory of a "white" past, or of the Muller family's perilous journey from its German village to New Orleans. And yet her resemblance to her mother is striking, and she bears two telltale birthmarks. Had a defenseless European orphan been callously and illegally enslaved, or was she an imposter? So began one of the most celebrated and sensational trials of nineteenth-century America." Historian John Bailey reconstructs the exotic sights, sounds, and smells of mid-nineteenth-century New Orleans, an "infernal motley crew" of cotton kings, decadent river workers, immigrants, and slaves. Miller's dramatic trial offers an eye into the fascinating laws and customs surrounding slavery, immigration, and racial mixing. Did Miller, as her relatives sought to prove, arrive from Germany under perilous circumstances as an indentured servant or was she, as her master claimed, part African and a slave for life? The trial pits a humble community of German immigrants against Mary's previous owner, John Fitz Miller, a hardened capitalist who is as respected by the community for his wealth and power as he is feared and distrusted, and his attorney, John Randolph Grymes, one of the brashest and most flamboyant lawyers of his time. Was Sally Miller's licentious lifestyle proof that she was part African, as the defense argued? Or was she the victim of a terrible injustice? Bailey follows the case's incredible twists and turns all the way to the Supreme Court, and comes to a shocking conclusion.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Who was Sally Miller: was she Salom Miller, a long-lost German immigrant girl enslaved by a Southern planter? Or was she really a light-skinned black woman, shrewd enough to exploit her only opportunity for freedom? Bailey (The White Diver of Broome) keeps us guessing until the end in this page-turning true courtroom drama of 19th-century New Orleans. Bailey opens the story in 1843, when a friend of the Schubers-a local family of German immigrants-discovered Miller outside her owner Louis Belmonti's house. Struck by her remarkable resemblance to their late cousin Dorothea Miller, and unusual birthmarks exactly like he daughter Salom 's, the Schubers claimed Sally as kin and set about trying to prove her identity as Salom and obtain her freedom. Bailey brings to life the fierce legal proceedings with vivid strokes. The case was controversial because it wasn't Belmonti but her previous owner, the perfect Southern gentleman John Fitz Miller, who faced disgrace if proved to have forced a white German girl into slavery. Bailey elucidates the bewildering array of possible identities turned up for Sally by numerous witnesses as well as the complexities of 19th-century Louisiana slave law and the status of black women. Sally herself remains an enigma at the center of this highly engrossing tale. Agent, Catherine Drayton of Arthur Pine Associates. 50,000 first printing. (Jan.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

In this expertly woven expos of a hotly disputed 19th-century court battle, Australian historian Bailey (The White Divers of Broome) takes on the early American South. A series of highly contentious trials was held in the mid-1800s to determine whether Sally Miller, a New Orleans woman, was born a multiracial slave or was in fact a German immigrant trapped in bondage from childhood. The stuff of television miniseries, this sensational and emotional cause celebre of its time is revived into a fresh drama from the vantage point of the present. Bailey's revisiting clearly shows the legal bias and the transparent motivations while delivering a shocking new conclusion. He weaves a deft and captivating plot with astonishing detail culled from historical and archival records. Highly recommended. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 9/15/04.]-Elizabeth Morris, Illinois Fire Service Inst., Champaign Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

Adult/High School-A fascinating mystery obsessed and polarized New Orleans from 1843 until its shocking conclusion in 1849. A close-knit community of German immigrants made an amazing claim: they had seen a young slave woman whom they were sure was the daughter of a relative who had sailed with them from Holland years earlier. After her parents died, the girl and her sister had been sent off to become indentured servants. No one knew what had happened to them, but the community was positive that the slave woman known as Mary or Brigit Wilson was really Salome Muller. Lawyers were assembled, and the battle lines were drawn. The Germans maintained that an unscrupulous former owner, John Fitz Miller, had enslaved an indentured child and later sold her to her current owner. Miller hired a "dream team" to press his claim that Mary was merely a clever slave, duping a bunch of credulous immigrants. Adding to the puzzle was her lack of memory of a German childhood and Miller's inability to prove that he had bought her. Bailey has provided a rich, vibrant New Orleans setting. Using court transcripts, pamphlets produced by both sides, newspaper stories, and biographies, he has produced a courtroom thriller with unexpected twists and turns. The details he includes about the horrors of the immigrant experience, and his discussions of laws governing slave owners, make this a valuable history lesson as well.-Kathy Tewell, Chantilly Regional Library, VA Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews