Travel back in time with our historical fi ction book club! From political intrigue to daring romances\, every month we visit a different period in time. Join us this March for All We Wer e Promised by Ashton Lattimore.
\n"The paths of three young Bla ck women in pre-Civil War Philadelphia unexpectedly--and dangerously--coll ide in this dramatic debut novel inspired by the explosive history of a ci ty at war with itself. Philadelphia\, 1837. When nineteen-year-old Charlot te escaped from the deteriorating White Oaks plantation four years ago\, s he'd expected freedom to look completely different from her former life as an enslaved housemaid. Instead\, she's locked away playing servant to her white-passing father\, hiding their past and identities to protect themse lves from slavecatchers who would destroy their new lives. Charlotte longs to break away\, but outside the walls of their townhouse\, the City of Br otherly Love is up in arms. Pennsylvania is a free state\, yet abolitionis ts are struggling to establish a permanent home for the anti-slavery movem ent\, as southern sympathizers incite violence against free Black people a nd white vigilantes stalk the streets. Undeterred\, Charlotte sneaks out a nd forges an unlikely friendship with Nell\, a member of one of Philadelph ia's wealthiest Black families. Nell is under so much pressure from her pa rents to settle down and marry Alex\, a close family friend\, that the two pretend to get engaged\, just to take the heat off. Meanwhile Nell and Ch arlotte grow close over their mutual commitment to abolition\, so when Evi e\, Charlotte's enslaved friend from White Oaks\, shows up in the city\, t hey conspire to help her flee North. Charlotte and her father's freedom is threatened as she and Nell navigate the abolitionist world's racial and c lass politics and ever-present dangers\, struggling to forge a plan to fre e Evie from slavery before it's too late. Inspired by the untold history o f Pennsylvania Hall\, one of Philadelphia's landmarks lost to violence\, A ll We Were Promised is the story of three young Black women--the rebel\, t he socialite\, and the fugitive--fighting for each other in an American ci ty straining to live up to its loftiest ideals."--Publisher description.\n
Copies of the book can be picked up at the front desk at the Connie Morella Library\, or you can \;borrow a \;digi tal copy from our \;online collection \;here.
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