First published 2014
Cow Tom stands before his Creek master in 1810s Alabama, his talent for languages already setting him apart from other enslaved people. Sold to a Creek chief before age ten, he discovers his ability to master new tongues makes him valuable as tensions rise between Indians, settlers, and the US military. Generals hire him as a translator during the American Indian Wars, and each assignment brings him closer to earning enough money for freedom. But the Civil War and Indian Removal threaten everything he has built. Decades later, his granddaughter Rose faces her own battles as political forces work to keep blacks and Indians oppressed. She draws strength from Cow Tom's courage as she rises to lead their family through a hostile world that wants to erase their place in it.
Genres: american-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, 19th-century, african-american-historical-fiction
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, generational-saga
Setting: Alabama, Creek, United States
Period: 1810s, Civil War, Indian Removal
420 pages · Hardcover · Simon & Schuster
Content warnings: racism, slavery