Summary

Prologue

Lavinia runs as quickly as she can, ignoring her child attempting to keep up with her. When Lavinia falls in the river and the child catches up, she instructs her to stay put. Lavinia climbs the bank and instantly sees the woman hanging from a massive oak tree.

Chapter 1

In the spring of 1791, a small girl is pulled from the arms of a large man she has no memory of and handed to a black man. The orders are to take the child to the kitchen house. The woman in the kitchen house, Belle, is not pleased with being given the care of such a small child on top of her other duties. The girl vomits when given milk, causing Belle anger when she has to clean her up. The girl wakes the next day, washed and redressed in a...