Oroonoko, or The Royal Slave

Aphra Behn made history as the first female writer in England to support herself through her writing, and her groundbreaking novel Oroonoko stands as the first English work to convey empathy for African slaves. Drawing partly from her own experiences in Surinam, this poignant tale unfolds the heartbreaking journey of Oroonoko, a nobleman turned slave, and his beloved Imoinda. The novel captivated readers upon its release and has since been adapted for the stage, including a notable production by the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1999. Behns legacy has paved the way for countless women writers, as Virginia Woolf famously remarked in A Room of Ones Own (1928) All women together ought to let flowers fall upon the tomb of Aphra Behn, ... for it was she who earned them the right to speak their minds. (Summary by Elizabeth Klett)