The story of the book titled The Bondwoman’s Narrative is an astonishing one. Published in 2002 from a manuscript discovered by Henry Louis Gates Jr., the novel was speculated to have been written by a female slave—a claim that, if true, would make it the first known novel written by an African-American woman.

Now, we know for sure: The Bondwoman’s Narrative was written by Hannah Bond, a slave on a North Carolina plantation owned by John Hill Wheeler. The book is the semi-autobiographical tale of a slave’s early life and escape to freedom.

Greg Hecimovich, an English professor in South Carolina, solved this literary mystery through wills, diaries, and various public records, and intends to publish his findings in a book.

The New York Times has the full story. Among the more interesting details are that Bond was influenced by Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, Walter Scott’s Rob Roy, and Charles Dickens’ Bleak House, a Stake favorite, suggesting that Bond was well-read—possibly because she had access to the library of Mr. Wheeler, who was a known lover of literature.

Says Professor Gates: “Words cannot express how meaningful this is to African-American literary studies… It revolutionizes our understanding of the canon of black women’s literature.”