"Iola Leroy; Or, Shadows Uplifted" by Frances Ellen Watkins Harper is a novel published in 1892. One of the first novels by an African-American woman, it tells the story of Iola Leroy, a young woman raised in privilege who discovers her hidden African ancestry and is suddenly enslaved. Set during the Civil War and Reconstruction, the novel follows Iola's journey through freedom, her work as a nurse, and her choices about identity, love, and social responsibility in a divided nation. (This is an automatically generated summary.)