Another great book by Lisa Wingate.
Mostly set in Louisiana (with a bit of Texas thrown in,) the chapters alternate between Benny Silva’s story in 1987, and Hannie Gossett in 1885. Hannie is a young woman who is a freed slave but still working for her former master and his wife in basically the same capacity. When her former master’s 16-year-old white daughter and 14-year-old daughter with his New Orleans mistress are kidnapped while trying to find their missing father, Hannie goes after them and follows them into the deep South. Benny is a young first-year teacher at a very poor public school in Augustine, LA, where the school board does its best to make sure the children at that school get the worst education possible.
Through these characters, this book tells the story of how freed slaves tried to find and reconnect with their family members, even decades later, through newspaper postings and word of mouth. However, this book was fairly PG-rated in how it handled racism. It wasn’t ignored, but it was definitely more in the background for a lot of it, especially with the school board in the modern time story, even though the whole premise of the book is only the premise because of the serious racism in the community.
This book started off slowly, but if you push through the first few chapters, it is absolutely worth it. I personally preferred Hannie’s chapters and was always disappointed when they ended. She was a very strong character who risked her own life and freedom to save the other two girls, even with the past treatment of her when she was a slave.
And without giving anything away, I also really liked how the stories connected through studying ancestors and learning about Augustine’s past.
Disclaimer: I received an e-galley of this book from Ballantine Books and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. It has not influenced my opinion.