The Story of Land and Sea

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Tabitha loves wandering the marshes of her small coastal village and listening to stories about her father's pirate voyages before he became a Continental soldier during the Amer­ican Revolution. When Tab contracts yellow fever, her father, John, takes her aboard a sloop bound for Bermuda, hoping the adventure and salt air will heal her. Years earlier, Tab's mother, Helen, is given a young slave named Moll for her tenth birthday. Left largely alone, the two develop a close but uneasy companionship. Over the years their paths diverge: Helen takes control of the family plantation, and Moll is forced into marriage. While Helen disobeys her father's wishes by falling in love with John, Moll's only solace is her son, whom she will protect with a passion that defies the bounds of slavery. This incandescent debut captures the singular love between parent and child, the devastation of love lost, and the desperate paths we travel in the name of renewal.