In 1804, Ruth is taken from her home in Saint-Domingue and sold into slavery in Savannah, Georgia. There she is put into service at Tara, the cotton plantation of the O'Hara family. This prequel to Gone with the Wind, authorized by the estate of Margaret Mitchell, explores the past of Mammy, one of the most beloved characters from the original classic novel.

Risking a whipping if they are discovered, Rosa and her mama sneak away from their slave quarters during the night to a hidden location in a field where they learn to read and write in a pit school.

"The Water Dancer meets The Prophets in this beautifully rendered novel. They call themselves the Stolen. Their owners call them captives. They are taught their captors' tongues and their beliefs but they have a language and rituals all their own. In a world that would be allegorical if it weren't saturated in harsh truths, Cato and William meet at Placid Hall, a plantation in the American South. Subject to the whims of their tyrannical and eccentric...