From the New York Times bestselling author of The Sweetness of Water


Louisiana, 1869.


Two years ago, the recently emancipated siblings Coleman and June were separated when their old master, Mr Harper, took June away on a hare-brained scheme to Mexico to escape the reality of the post-war South. When an unexpected letter from Mr Harper arrives, summoning Coleman and the Harper family to Mexico, he sets off to find her.


What Coleman cannot know is the tangled reality of June's tribulations under Mr Harper out on the frontier. And when disaster strikes, he is forced on the run with Mr Harper's daughter Florence, the unlikely pair venturing into the Mexican desert together. As Coleman and June separately navigate a dangerous, parched landscape to find their way back to each other, they learn quickly that freedom isn't always given - sometimes it must be taken by force.


'Terrifically entertaining'
Daily Mail

'Highly accomplished'
Sunday Times

'The writing is flawless, the characters unforgettable, and the world Harris builds never lets us go'
Jason Mott