From Goodreads: A desperate flight from brutal oppression—and everything to lose if it fails…

Two women, one white, the other black, find themselves trapped in bondage on a South Carolina plantation in 1850’s America. Their unique friendship gives each the strength to endure until circumstances threaten not only to rip them apart but to place their very lives in jeopardy. They undertake a harrowing flight with the aid of the Underground Railroad. Will slavery’s powerful tentacles hold them? Or will they find the freedom they crave…

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This is a very well written novel showing the immense atrocities of slavery.  Julia is a young woman who has grown up under the oppressive hand of her religious father.  Afraid she may never get away and take ownership of her own life, she chooses to marry the mysterious Nathanial Hamilton, a plantation owner from the Deep South.  However, instead of taking ownership of her own life and starting anew, Julia finds herself in a new oppressive environment, hundreds of miles from her family, in a new society where men and woman are even more highly divided than in the North, and where slavery is a business.

Sheltered and alone, Julia must fight for her own “freedom,” though not a slave in the same terms that her young maid, Fanny is, Julia is anything but free.  Together, these two women, one white and one black, forge a relationship that binds them deeply together as the story unfolds, and I found it highly intriguing.

Though the story is a bit long, the depth of the characterization is exemplary and the reader is drawn into the story, falling in love with Julia and Fanny, feeling their pain, watching their hopes and dreams die and rekindle… and what I loved the most is that these strong females never give up.  Though they are put down and terrible things happen to them, these women remain strong and it is impossible not to cheer them on as they fight for their own freedom through the Underground Railroad.

There were some great, uplifting parts of this novel as well… with a twist of character that I really didn’t see coming.  And though there were a few typos here and there, honestly, the story itself was so intriguing that I easily overlooked them.  Truthfully, this novel is very interesting and I highly suggest that history buffs read it.  Likewise, it’s a great tale for young adults as it shows what life was like in the 1850s and how terrible slavery was.  It also shows the bonds that can be created between people regardless of color, and that, in the end, we are all created equal, which is a theme that many of our young still do not fully understand.  I highly recommend this novel.  Four stars.

I received a copy of this novel from the author in exchange for an honest review.