I own I am shock’d at the purchase of slaves And fear those who buy them and sell them are knaves; What I hear of their hardships, their tortures and groans, Is almost enough to drive pity from stones. I pity them greatly, but I must be mum For how could we do without sugar and rum? William Cowper ‘Pity for Poor Africans’ Northampton Mercury 9th August 1788 Theft of Life is my sixth novel, and my fifth set in the 1780s. It’s also my first to deal with slavery. I’m often asked