Foreword / Henry Louis Gates, Jr. -- Beginnings -- The search -- Nat Turner, the Wheelers, and The Bondwoman's Narrative -- The revolt -- The candidates -- Childhood -- Property -- Rosea Pugh and Hannah Sr. -- The early life of Hannah Crafts -- The Bondwoman's Narrative and Uncle Tom's Cabin -- The notebook -- Religion -- The Wheelers -- The novel -- The life and times of Eliza Morgan -- The Bondwoman's Narrative and Bleak House -- The search continued -- The life and times of Jane Johnson -- The life and times of Hannah Crafts -- The life and times of Hannah Vincent.