Clotel, or, The President's Daughter-William Wells Brown

The novel centres around four people: Gerard and Irene Merriam, their inseparable friend Hugh Colman who once saved Gerard’s life, and Minna, a Jewess. Minna throws common sense and caution to the winds in order to ensure her inheritance and the lives of all four become inextricably bound up in a story of love and ultimate tragedy. (Summary by Simon Evers)