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In 1862 military necessity enabled Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton to pry from a hesitant President Lincoln the authority to enlist black troops in the Union army. The pioneer regiment of ex-slaves was to secure the beachhead tenously held at Beaufort, off the South Carolina coast. Within a year, Lincoln was to hail the enlistment of black soldiers, which he had earlier resisted as "revolutionary," as the "heaviest blow yet dealt the rebellion." The abolition of slavery, unthinkable in 1861, w...

Arthur Swille politicizes, patronizes, and frets on his plantation in Swin'erd, Virginia, while his runaway slave, Raven Quickskill gives poetry readings and abolitionist lectures in Emancipation City, prompting his fellow fugitives to anger, fear, bravery, and betrayal.

The past is living. It is linked to the present, and the work ain't done yet ...' In the tense days before the American Civil War, in the swamplands of the Maryland shore, a wounded slave girl and her visions of the future tear a community apart in a riveting drama of hope and redemption. Kidnappings, gunfights and chases ensue in this extraordinary story of violence, tragic triumph, and unexpected kindness. 'Gripping, affecting, and beautifully paced' -- Oprah Magazine 'Escaped slaves, free bla...

Set in a diner where the food isn't very good and the ambience veers between heaven and hell, this bestselling novel from the author of Mama Day and The Women of Brewster Place is a feast for the senses and the spirit. "A virtuoso orchestration of survival, suffering, courage and humor."--New York Times Book Review.