A black farmer and former slave, Henry Townsend falls under the tutelage of William Robbins, the most powerful man in Manchester County, Virginia, in this Pulitzer Prize and National Book Critics Circle Award winner from Edward Jones. Careful never to circumvent the law, Townsend himself owns 33 slaves, and runs his affairs with unusual discipline. But when death takes him unexpectedly, his widow Caldonia can't keep the estate in order, and chaos ensues. Jones has woven a footnote of history into an epic that takes an unflinching look at slavery in all of its moral complexities.

"A strong, intricate, daring book by a writer of deep compassion and uncommon gifts."—Peter Matthiessen