Alone in London, Caroline is mudlarking when she uncovers an eighteen century vial. From its markings, she believes it belonged to an apothecary in Bear Lane and she is determined to uncover its secrets, but there is more at stake than she first realizes—breaking and entering, murder, and even the police suspect Caroline of attempting to poison her unfaithful husband.
Can she uncover details of the mysterious owner of the apothecary who not only catered to women’s ailments, but supplied poisons to women with grudges against men’s behaviour? Who was this pharmacist from long ago? What made her enter this dangerous trade? And who was the young girl who was spotted near the River Thames with her?
This bi-family generational saga begins in the 1700s. The British have established Cape Coast Castle in Ghana. Because of Effia’s mother’s cunning plan, Effia is married to an Englishman and moves away from her Asante tribe to live with her new husband in Coast Castle. Esi begins the journey of the second family. She’s locked up below Coast Castle with hundreds of others awaiting shipment to another part of the world and a life of slavery.
The lives of these two families continue to the present day with each chapter centered around the following generation.
In the 1500s in Morocco, Mustafa ibn Muhammad is a kind older brother to his twin brothers and a successful merchant. But when he loses his position due to difficult times, he is forced to sell himself into slavery so that his mother and brothers will not starve. After several years he becomes part of an expedition to New Spain (today’s Southern U.S.A.) led by de Narvaez who plans to capture the land for the Spanish crown and become as famous as Cortes. But once they land in New Florida starvation and disease force the contingent to steal and plunder whatever they can from Indian tribes. Within a year only four have survived: Mustafa (who was reassigned a new name — Estebanico), his master, Dorantes, Cabeza de Vaco and Castillo. Will they ever be able to return to their native countries or will they too, die from disease or at the hands of Indians? This is a fascinating account seen through the eyes of Mustafa/Estebanico a desperate survivor who only hopes for his freedom from bondage.
In the deep south, twins, Desiree and Stella grow up in a small country town obsessed with whiteness. They could pass for white, but their family has a long black history connected to the foundation of the settlement. When the twins witness the brutal murder of their father at the hands of a mob of white men who storm their house, Stella has nightmares. This memory haunts her so that in their teenage years, the twins run away to New Orleans. In the room they share over the next couple of years, Desiree finds a note — Stella has packed and left. Where has she gone? And what will Desiree do once she realizes that the man she marries several years later is becoming more violent?
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