The Indigo Girl – Natasha Boyd

Summary

In 1739, 16-year-old Eliza Lucas’ father leaves her in charge of three plantations in South Carolina while he goes to Antigua to advance his military career. Eliza, who has a passion for botany, decides to try to grow indigo to better her family’s finances. However, extracting the dye from the plant is not a simple process, and she needs help which is hard to get when men don’t take women seriously and her mother is determined to marry her off.

Quote

“One can always judge a man’s character by how he treats those beneath him.”

Interesting Facts

• Natasha Boyd was born in Denmark, grew up in Great Britain and now lives in Atlanta, GA. She was living on Hilton Head Island, SC, when she heard about Eliza Lucas for the first time at an indigo exhibit.¹
• The Indigo Girl is the author’s first historical fiction. She did a lot of research for the book, even though she hated history classes in school. It took her 3 years to publish it.¹
• The Indigo Girl is a fiction based on the true story of Eliza Lucas, a 16-year-old girl who started planting indigo, even though it had never been done successfully in South Carolina. Later, she passed around seeds to other planters, and the indigo crops became the biggest and most profitable trade of the state until the Revolutionary War.¹ Eliza also taught her father’s slaves to read and write, which was against the law at the time.
• Ben is not a historical character. The author invented him after she found a document mentioning that Eliza’s father sent a “Negro man” to help her with the indigo crops.²
• You can learn more about the real Eliza Lucas here.³
• Eliza Lucas wrote many letters. Some are available online. Read her letters here.⁴

¹ Source: Marilyn Shannon’s interview with Natasha Boyd
² Source: A Note from the Author at the end of the book
³ Source: History of American Women
⁴ Source: Eliza Lucas Pinckney’s Letters & Memoranda