The debut novel of Anthony Wright centers on a generational slave family from the antebellum south to post-civil war. Each generation is in search of their own personal freedom while facing the horrors of slavery and discrimination. Eve, part of the first generation, is distraught in a sense at the thought of her family being split up after her brother threatens to flee their plantation. Simey, Eve's daughter, is torn with finding her place in the world and building a family in the midst of her bondage. Lee, Simey's son, is a man with ambition post Reconstruction and during the rise of Jim Crow that dares to own his own land. Lena, Simey's great-granddaughter, is growing up in the Jim Crow south when her family is forced to flee in the night.