But while we learn about additional dimensions of of a racially-divided society from them, they feel much less central. Not so much because of the suffrage movement - but because, at its heart, it’s about the strength women have when they unite with and support one another. We, of course, know that winning this fight is still a generation away. And many of the women in the story become deeply involved in the struggle to give women the vote. There are a few historical figures and events that are part of the narrative - Sojourner Truth, Frederick Douglass, Susan B. One where they support one another during intense challenges. Yet these women wind up forming their own kind of family, across racial lines. All the relationships are multi-dimensional - full of love and loyalty, resentment and envy, dependence and ignorance.

It’s the interweaving of all these stories that Ibrahim does so skillfully. Sadie is married to an affluent German immigrant with a controlling nature and is dealing with a history of failed pregnancies.

Lisbeth and her daughter Sadie are white, though that does not guarantee happiness. At the novel’s beginning, Mattie is ill and approaching death. Having left a plantation, moved to Virginia, then Chicago and later to Oakland - their story is one of nascent freedom - with the external world still limiting their choices and threatening their safety on a daily basis. Mattie, her daughter Jordan, and Jordan’s daughter Naomi help to tell the story of Black Americans at this period. At the center is the complex relationships among a group of women, about thirty years (1894) after the end of the American Civil War. It’s a novel with many layers, about the confluence of civil rights and women’s rights. And enjoyed it, without feeling I was missing much. Although this book is volume 3 in a series of novels by Laila Ibrahim - I started with this one. As a lifelong rule follower, this represents a BIG departure for me.

Laila ibrahim books