The Princess of Naragpur or a Daughter of Allah

New York: The Grafton Press, 1928. Very good. 8¼” x 5½”. Red cloth over boards, title gilt. Pp. 191. Very good: cloth frayed at corners and edges of spine, with a few small dings and light soiling; tiny closed tear to edge of title leaf; subtly toned; edges dust-soiled; a bit of light scattered spotting and creasing.

This is an uncommon interracial romance novel written by an African American preacher during the Harlem Renaissance, E. Elliot Durant.

The Reverend E. Elliot Durant was born in Barbados to parents of African descent and emigrated to the United States, where he founded the self-supporting St. Ambrose church in Harlem in 1925. A 1953 article from the New York Age deemed St. Ambrose the “second largest Negro episcopal church in the country” and reported that Durant had led its congregation for 26 years until his death in 1951. Durant was the first African American to graduate from the Philadelphia Divinity School, and before entering the ministry had served as a journalist, teacher and lecturer; in 1914 he addressed the Negro Society for Historical Research on the topic of “Universal Race Advancement.” Durant was noted for his 1946 history of St. Ambrose, which “told a graphic story of the hardships and sacrifices he and the congregation had undergone to establish the church.” He also wrote the works Leisure Moments and How to Make Your Mark in Life, as well as a “beautiful soul-inspiring hymn” marketed in New York newspapers in 1925.

This novel, which the New York Age called “the most thrilling and romantic novel ever written about India,” tells the story of the complicated love between a brave and handsome Englishman and the beautiful, dark-skinned daughter of an Indian rajah. In its preface, Durant stated that the first half of the book was written in collaboration with Cuthbert M. Roach, from all we could gather a longtime friend of Durant's. He propounded that “we have created all that is noble in womanhood, in the Princess Kaunsia” and regretted that “my friend was not by my side to help me write the closing chapters.” The novel details the young English army officer's enchantment with the beautiful princess, the perils he faced to win her (including fighting a tiger), their escape from intended marriages and subsequent elopement. The tale spins through war, shipwreck, family complications and international politics, as husband misunderstands wife and they both suffer.

A rare and compelling novel by a noted Harlem pastor and author. OCLC locates four holdings over two entries. (Inventory #: 8046)