Bill Martin

Dark and hauntingly beautiful, this novel is an important swatch of "quilt Americana." It is rare that a novel moves me not only during the read but for weeks afterwards. Norman and Leah Pelham's characters are stitched into the quilt that we are. This story exposes America's bloodlines and fault lines and forces us to confront who and what we are as Americans. An important read for those studying not only the racial mixing bowl of the United States but also the dark underbelly of cruel lust that is overlooked in much of our history of how this nation was created and how it has evolved to its current mangled and disjointed understanding of the history of Americans of African descent.