This swirling work of historical fiction centers around a slave plantation in Virginia that is owned by a former slave. The tale jumps around in both time and perspective, taking some effort to follow, but the effort is rewarded by an intimacy with Manchester county that feels eerily like having lived there a long long time ago, nearly beyond memory. Or perhaps we’ve suppressed the memory due to the hard things there, and in the process lost the wonders that lived alongside them. Here we have a vivid reminder.