The first fully professional woman writer in English was Aphra Behn, a poet, playwright, and novelist from the Restoration era. Her subtle and perceptive criticism of slavery is found in Oroonoko. Janet Todd edited this Penguin Classics version and wrote the introduction. The lovers are taken from Africa to the colony of Surinam as slaves after Prince Oroonoko's passion for the honourable Imoinda causes his grandfather to become envious. Although Oroonoko's noble demeanour quickly earns the admiration of his English captives, his fight for escape ultimately leads to his demise. Oroonoko, which was inspired by Aphra Behn's trip to Surinam, embodies the writer's idealised perception of local peoples as noble savages in "the first stage of innocence, before man knew how to sin."The novel also reveals Behn's ambiguous attitude to African slavery - while she favoured it as a means to strengthen England's rule, her powerful and moving work conveys its injustice and brutality.This new edition of Oroonoko is based on the first printed version of 1688, and includes a chronology, further reading and notes. In her introduction, Janet Todd examines Aphra Behn's views of slavery, colonization and politics, and her position as a professional woman writer in the Restoration.Little is known of Aphra Behn's (1640-1689) early life. She was probably born in Kent, and in the early 1660s claims to have visited the British colony of Surinam. She turned to literature for a living, producing numerous short stories, 19 stage plays and political propaganda for the Tories.If you enjoyed Oroonoko, you might like Daniel Defoe's Moll Flanders, also available in Penguin Classics.