Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda

Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda y Arteaga (1814-1873) was a Cuban writer. At 22 years of age, she left Cuba to continue her work in Spain, where she died.

The most controversial novel she wrote, Sab, was published in 1841. This novel can be compared to Uncle Tom's Cabin in that both it and Sab are literary protests against the practice of slavery. It is about a Cuban slave in love with a white woman, who in turn marries a white Englishman. The book stresses the slave's moral superiority over the white characters.

It was banned in Cuba for its unconventional approach to society and its problems.

Avellaneda's works were considered scandalous because of her recurrent themes of interracial love and society's divisions.

Source: John Charles Chasteen, "Born in Blood and Fire, A Concise History of Latin America"