When Trinidad changes from Spanish to British rule in the late 18th century, it becomes increasingly unclear whether its free black property owners will be allowed to keep their assets, their land, and ultimately, their freedom. By 1830, Trinidadian Rosa Rendón is living across the ocean in Montana as the wife of a Crow Nation chief, and her son's coming of age prompts her to revisit a painful past.
From the farms of Trinidad to the forests of the American West, the tale of Rosa Rendón is hard yet engrossing ... The various strands of the story come together to illuminate how power and race can warp a life ... A sad, compelling novel about a woman of color who fights against society’s expectation, Francis-Sharma’s novel...is an excellent choice for book groups.
Francis-Sharma...offers fascinating characters across the broad sweep of the American continent at a time of great tumult, warring colonial powers, the spread of slavery, and expansion West. This is a compelling saga of family bonds, ambitions, and desires, all subject to the vagaries of powerful historical forces.
Francis-Sharma...delivers a satisfying and perceptive transnational family saga ... In this masterly epic, the pleasure lies in piecing everything together.
