Central Kansas Library System

The story follows Hetty "Handful" Grimke, a Charleston slave, and Sarah, the daughter of the wealthy Grimke family. The novel begins on Sarah's eleventh birthday, when she is given ownership over Handful, who is to be her handmaid, and follows the next thirty-five years of their lives. Inspired in part by the historical figure of Sarah Grimke (a feminist, suffragist and, importantly, an abolitionist), the author allows herself to go beyond the record...

While her sister fights to hold on to the family legacy, Louisa Highwood works tirelessly to save the lives of wounded soldiers. Putting her own safety on the line, she covertly ventures behind enemy lines to procure desperately needed supplies for the army hospital. Meanwhile, with no place of refuge left, Jesselynn and a ragtag band of freed slaves and Thoroughbreds head west on the Oregon Trail, unable to imagine what awaits them.

"Dr. Victoria Fenway and wagon-train captain Joseph Rickard promised to love each other forever, but a misunderstanding led to her marrying another man. Now determined to carry on her late husband's work of rescuing slaves, she is tracking his murderer. With dangerous slavers tracking her, Joseph becomes her protector, hoping for a second chance"--