The Hottentot Venus

The acclaimed biography of Sarah Baartman, once a slave and later a showgirl A significant and timely book Holmes has produced a laceratingly powerful story Frances Wilson, Literary Review 'Impeccable ... In telling her extraordinary story, Holmes's fascinating book illuminates the forces which dominated her age, and resound in our own' Sunday Telegraph In 1810 the slave turned showgirl Sarah Baartman, Londons most famous curiosity, became its legal cause clbre. Famed for her exquisite physique in particular her shapely bottom she was stared at, stripped, pinched, painted, worshipped and ridiculed. This talented, tragic young South African woman became a symbol of exploitation, colonialism and defiance. In this scintillating and vividly written book Rachel Holmes traces the full arc of Baartmans extraordinary life for the first time.