Book excerpt: Dido Elizabeth Belle was born in 1761. It would be nearly 100 years before slavery was abolished. The date would be of little importance if not for one important factor: Belle's father was white, but her mother was of African descent. It was an unthinkable act for the time, and Belle's life was destined for only bad things. But remarkably bad things did not happen. Belle was sent to live with her uncle, the Earl of Mansfield; here she was raised as a free woman and given the same privileged upbringing as her cousins. This book tells the inspiring true story of Dido Elizabeth Belle, and how the life of a woman most people have never heard helped pave the way for future change.