Allentown Public Library
Book Group

In 1855, Ginnie and two of her children set out with their slave master for Nicaragua, where he has been appointed U.S. ambassador. Before boarding the ferry in New York, Ginnie connects with operatives in the Underground Railroad who cleverly spirit her to Philadelphia, where she becomes freedwoman Mercer Gray. While eluding slave catchers and struggling to earn a living, she grieves for her youngest child, left behind on the plantation. Through the kindness of friends, she becomes a lecturer in the cause for abolition and travels throughout New England, speaking in meeting halls and churches, reliving her life as a slave, and redefining her freedom. But freedom has a price too; people close to her bicker, cheat, and lie and the only man she loves is trapped in an unfortunate marriage. Cary (Black Ice, LJ 3/1/91) has drawn a vivid portrait of survival and the struggle for self-worth against a backdrop of one of the bleakest periods in American history. Recommended. Susan Clifford, Hughes Aircraft Co. Lib., Los Angeles