Durham, NC -- The Resurrection of Nat Turner, Part 2: The Testimony (Howard/Simon & Schuster) by Sharon Ewell Foster is releasing February, 2012. Based on historical facts uncovered during a five-year research and writing process, Foster's two-part series discredits the primary historical document related to Nat Turner,The Confessions of Nat Turner, written in 1831 by Thomas Gray; and also challenges William Styron's 1967 Pulitzer Prize winning novel by the same name. According to Foster, Turner pled innocent and no confession was given or read at his trial.

"Sharon Ewell Foster has unearthed the truth about Nat Turner, rather than rehash and revisit the lies and distortions surrounding one of the most important people in American history," writes Dr. Ray Winbush, professor, historian and consultant on the PBS film, Nat Turner: A Troublesome Property. "This is a liberating book, both psychologically and historically."

Set for a Black History Month international release, The Resurrection of Nat Turner, Part 2: The Testimony offers readers a new and more objective view of the real Nat Turner and of the pre-civil war era of American history. Her personal research included visits to Southampton County, interviews with Nat Turner's living descendants and local historians, and analysis of handwritten trial transcripts and then Virginia Governor John Floyd's diary. "Every once in a while a book shakes the very foundation of what you believe, like Alex Haley's Autobiography of Malcolm X. The Resurrection of Nat Turner is in that category," Winbush states.

The Resurrection of Nat Turner, Part 1: The Witnesses examines the 1831 slave revolt and its leader, Nat Turner, through the eyes of historic figures like Frederick Douglass and Harriet Beecher Stowe, as well as friends and foes of Turner, and shares Foster's analysis of the uprising, subsequent slave massacre, and related trials.

"My findings freed me to offer readers a new Nat Turner. A preacher, a liberator, a literate man, and not the lunatic that history and some fiction bequeathed us," said Foster, whose first historical novel, Passing by Samaria, was the NAACP Book of the Year in 2000.

In The Resurrection of Nat Turner, Part 2: The Testimony, Foster imagines Turner's perspective and guides readers through his actions and motivations. "I never intended to write in Nat Turner's voice," explains Foster. "But, Turner's voice was insistent. One of the first things that came to me was, 'They were all heroes.' Slaves, whether passive or armed, were like prisoners of war. We should honor their role in American History rather than viewing them with shame."

Styron's Confessions initially released to national acclaim, but quickly came under criticism during the height of the Black Power movement. Author and historian Lerone Bennett, speaking of Nat Turner and Styron's novel, wrote, "The prophet who died in the Jerusalem of America, cool and calm, sure of the Black Resurrection, still awaits a literary interpreter worthy of his sacrifice."

Critical reaction to Foster's retelling of the Nat Turner story has been strong. According to Kirkus Review, "Foster uses her strong research skills and her skill at turning historical names into living, breathing humans to great advantage."

During a radio interview, professor, author, and radio talk show host, Dr. Michael Eric Dyson, exclaimed to his audience, "She's blowing our minds!"

D.G. Martin, TV host of "North Carolina Bookwatch," has positively compared Foster's novel to The Help. "Here is an opportunity to read the work of a gifted African-American writer who tells her story effectively and sympathetically." Publishers Weekly has called The Resurrection of Nat Turner "fast-paced . . .riveting and expertly told by an inspired, practiced storyteller."

This month, Foster kicks off the Nat Turner Truth Tour, Part 2, with a review in the current issue of NAACP's The Crisis Magazine, book signings, presentations, lectures, and discussions.

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