The author writes in the preface of Bondwoman's Narrative, "In presenting this account of simple, unvarnished facts to a generous audience, I feel a certain degree of distrust... towards those who consider the truth foreign to fiction cannot be less interesting than the previous one" (Crafts 3). Bondwoman's Narrative is titled a "novel," meaning there is no tenable basis to prove that this story is an accurate biography. So what aspects of this novel can be considered true and verified with evidence? Within the narrative told by the protagonist, Hannah Crafts, there are certain themes and concepts authenticated by historical evidence, such as the characteristic marital constructs that were evident during the 19th century. The couples who played significant roles within the narrative - the Master and Mistress, the Henrys and Charlotte and Henry - represent the different types of social paradigms that surrounded a marriage at the time the book was written. Through Hannah's religiously opinionated narrative and interactions with these diverse couples, this novel portrays historically consistent accounts of marital constructs relative to its setting in the antebellum South and thus challenges the fictional air surrounding the claim to be a novel. A wedding in the 19th century had many different expectations than today. Most marriages, especially for the upper classes, were conducted as an exchange of goods and used for public performances. Hendrik Hartog in his lecture entitled "Marriage Expectations in Nineteenth-Century America" ​​writes, "At least until the mid-nineteenth century to marry meant to submit to a known and coercive public relationship" (96). It was a deal that published… middle of the paper… Essays on the narrative of The Bondwoman. New York: Basic Civitas Books, 2004.Print.Geraldine Brooks." BrainyQuote.com. A. “Marital Dating and Marital Expectations in Nineteenth-Century America.” The Journal of Negro History 82.3 (1997). ': the slave's tale, the gothic marriage and companion”. MP: An Online Feminist Journal (2010): 101-115 Web 2014