Sarah E. Farro

Sarah E. Farro was a 19th-century African American novelist. Her only known novel, True Love: A Story of English Domestic Life, was published in 1891 by Donohue & Henneberry in Chicago. Despite being only one of a handful of known African-Americans that published a novel in the 1800s, little is known about her life.

Farro published her novel True Love when she was 26 years old. At the time of its release, American newspapers stated it was the first novel to be published by an African-American woman. The book is a domestic romance and melodrama set in England, and follows the story of a man who is unable to marry his love, Janey, due to her mother's interference. Although it is unknown how Farro's parents met or if they were formerly enslaved, they were living in Chicago when Sarah, their oldest child, was born, having left the South.

Later life

Community organizations Sarah E. Farro was a member of the Old Settlers Club founded in 1943.

Publication True Love's publication was thought to be the first novel an African American woman produced based on the people of the United States and Britain.