Talma Gordon (1900) is a short story by Pauline E. Hopkins. Recognized
as the first African American mystery story, Talma Gordon was
originally published in the October 1900 edition of The Colored
American Magazine, America's first monthly periodical covering African
American arts and culture. Combining themes of racial identity and
passing with a locked room mystery plot, Hopkins weaves a masterful tale
of conspiracy, suspicion, and murder. "When the trial was called
Jeannette sat beside Talma in the prisoner's dock; both were arrayed in
deepest mourning, Talma was pale and careworn, but seemed uplifted,
spiritualized, as it were. [...] She had changed much too: hollow
cheeks, tottering steps, eyes blazing with fever, all suggestive of
rapid and premature decay." When Puritan descendant Jonathan Gordon is
discovered murdered under suspicious circumstances, the ensuing trial
implicates his own daughter Talma. Despite being declared innocent, the
townsfolk are determined to believe that Talma conspired to have her
father killed after he discovered her mixed racial heritage. Freed from
the prospect of imprisonment, Talma is left with only her sister's
protection against the anger and violence of her neighbors. With this
thrilling tale of murder and racial tension, Hopkins proves herself as a
true pioneer of American literature, a woman whose talent and principles
afforded her the vision necessary for illuminating the injustices of
life in a nation founded on slavery and genocide. With a beautifully
designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of
Pauline E. Hopkins' Talma Gordon is a classic work of African American
literature reimagined for modern readers.
