Jude and Diana

The only mention of sisters Jude and Diana in Nova Scotia’s official history relates to their deaths: a slave-owning family was brought to trial for murder in 1801. They were acquitted. Sharon Robart-Johnson honours these archival glimpses of enslaved people by re-creating the fullness of Jude and Diana’s lives. Through Robart-Johnson’s meticulous research, we experience eighteenth-century Yarmouth and Shelburne, where political debates about abolishing slavery were only just beginning to emerge. Through Robart-Johnson’s creativity, we encounter Jude, a rebellious, endearing young woman whose fierce love of family connects us to her sweet, intelligent sister, Diana. Their stories may be hard to read for some, but despite the cruelty they endured, their humour, strength, and dignity shine brightly. Robart-Johnson’s project to reveal the brutality experienced by enslaved Black people in Canada is crucial. More than two hundred years later, this story rings uncannily true; in 2020, murderers of Black people are still brought to court and acquitted. May Jude and Diana’s lives contribute to the coming transformation.