George Coussoulos

Memoir of William Lee George Coussoulos

"And to my Mulatto man, William, . . . I give immediate freedom. . ." With these words in his last will and testament, the Father of Our Country closed a dark chapter of his life which for all of his 67 years depended on the utilization of enslaved people for all manner of labor and convenience. William "Billy" Lee was George Washington's loyal valet through eight years of war. Was the manumission of his faithful servant simply a reward for fidelity, or a telling signal that his relationship with this servant had a profound affect on his view of the institution of slavery itself? The Memoir of William Lee, while historical fiction, shows the development of a young enslaved man's sense of self as he experiences the horrors of war and from his servant's vantage point, engages with men pivotal to the nation's founding. Readers will decide whether the book also suggests answers to Washington's change of attitude, and certainly will confront the complications faced by a new nation at odds with its fundamental creed.