Books like Dessa Rose by Sherley Anne Williams
The novel follows the 1829 uprising led by a pregnant black woman in Kentucky and the 1830 incident in North Carolina where a white farmer sheltered runaway slaves. Sheltering each other’s secrets, the unlikely pair devise a bold plan to secure freedom. Their partnership, fraught with mistrust yet growing solidarity, explores themes of resistance, sisterhood, and the complex web of race relations in the ante‑bellum South.
First publish date: 1986
Genre: Historical Fiction/19th Century Historical Fiction
Authors: Sherley Anne Williams
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