A historical novel about one young man's run toward freedom decades after the Civil War. Walker's debut novel opens in Richmond, Virginia, in 1887, where Black teenager John works for Tyrone Billingsly, a White man who once enslaved John's father. Tyrone is kind enough to John, but his wife, Laura, wants nothing to do with the young man. John decides to steal from the family--an act that leads to an unexpected death. John's mother suggests that he head to Mount Hope, Alabama, where Cousin Riley lives, so John and his friend Douglas take off together. Thus begins a 41-year journey for John in which he seeks true freedom and wrestles with his personal demons; along the way, Tyrone remains on his trail. John's travels take him to Atlanta; Birmingham, Alabama, where a dramatic confrontation occurs; and, finally, Mount Hope in 1893. There, he searches for a family member and tries to forge a new life, but in this small Southern town, he still faces numerous threats as a person of color. Over the course of this novel, Walker delivers deft storytelling with superb pacing and compelling, believable dialogue. The work eventually becomes an epic tale that resembles a quest narrative. The prose throughout is vivid, as well, as in an evocative description of John's mother as "a stout forty-nine-year-old with grape-colored skin and dark brown, recessed eyes. Tufts of unruly black hair dangled from her blue-and-white checkered madras tignon." Stories that take place over decades can easily become overwhelming and unwieldy, but Walker writes tightly and expertly here, crafting an intriguing plot with a real feeling for history. An expertly told tale of loss, love, and second chances.
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