In this provocative and starkly
beautiful historical novel,
a Quaker family moves from Pennsylvania to the Virginia
frontier, where slaves are the only available workers and
where the family’s values and beliefs are sorely tested.
In 1798, Daniel Dickinson, recently widowed and shunned by
his fellow Quakers when he marries his young servant girl to
help with his five small children, moves his shaken family
down the Wilderness Road to the Virginia/Kentucky border.
Although determined to hold on to his Quaker ways, and
despite his most dearly held belief that slavery is a sin,
Daniel becomes the owner of a young boy named Onesimus,
setting in motion a twisted chain of events that will lead
to tragedy and murder, forever changing his children’s lives
and driving the book to an unexpected conclusion.
A powerful novel of sacrifice and redemption set in a tiny
community on the edge of the frontier, this spellbinding
narrative unfolds around Daniel’s struggle to maintain his
faith; his young wife, Ruth, who must find her own way; and
Mary, the eldest child, who is bound to a runaway slave by a
terrible secret. Darkly evocative, The Purchase is as
hard-edged as the realities of pioneer life. Its memorable
characters, drawn with compassion and depth, are
compellingly human, with lives that bring light to matters
of loyalty and conscience.
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