"Like her mother, Rue is an all-knowing midwife, healer, and conjurer of curses on the plantation of Marse Charles. Moving back and forth in time between the years before and after the Civil War, this novel tells the story of Rue, the families she cares for, and the mysteries and secrets she knows about the plantation owner's daughter, Varina. At the heart of this story is the intimate bonds and transgressions among people and across racial divides,...

"Jamie Pyke, son of the master of Tall Oaks plantation and his kitchen slave, is passing as a wealthy white aristocrat in Philadelphia. His secret identity is threatened, putting his life in grave danger, when he is compelled by a promise to travel back to the South to rescue a beloved boy servant named Pan who has been kidnapped and sold into slavery. The innocent child seems unlikely to survive life in the quarters, but he finds an ally in the compassionate...