The Abolitionist's Daughter

March 4, 2019
McPhail’s dramatic but uneven debut centers on a land dispute in the antebellum South. Emily Matthews is the kind daughter of Southern abolitionist Judge Matthews, who educates runaway slaves that he cannot free (because Mississippi has outlawed manumission) at his illegal school. Two years before the Civil War begins, Emily and Ginny, Emily’s friend and a slave Matthews educated, learn that the violent Holbert Conklin wants to sell his slave Nathan, which would separate him from his wife. After Matthews buys Nathan and his family to keep them together, doctor Charles Slate, who courts and marries Emily, tends to the severely injured Nathan. The Matthews farm, an underground save haven, becomes the center of unwanted attention when Emily’s brother Jeremiah returns after learning Matthews changed his will to leave Emily his land. The family is further thrown into disarray as Belinda, the widow of their dead brother, also seeks a claim on the land. After the Civil War begins, the family strife and wartime violence force naive Emily to mature into a resilient mother who endures multiple tragedies. Unfortunately, Matthews, Jeremiah, Charles, Nathan, and Nathan’s family are barely explored. McPhail lays out many intriguing threads but fails to bring them together into a coherent whole.

March 1, 2019
Inspired by a real-life feud between two Mississippi families, McPhail's first novel sheds light on an often unrecognized part of Civil War history, the Southern abolitionist movement. Judge Matthews secretly educates his slaves in anticipation of the day when it is no longer illegal for him to free them. His daughter, Emily, who shares his abolitionist beliefs, convinces him to take in an injured slave and his family to prevent them from being separated. Dr. Charles Slate treats the wounded man, then returns to court Emily; soon after, Emily's brother weds Charles' sister. But the two families are only temporarily united by their marriages, and after a night of unspeakable violence, Emily finds herself alone and estranged from her in-laws. As the war rages ever closer to her farm, Emily must take responsibility for herself and her children and confront her dual role as an abolitionist and reluctant slave owner. McPhail also includes the voices of the family's free-but-not-freed slaves, including Ginny, who was educated with Emily and is much less naive. For fans of Charles Frazier's enduring Cold Mountain (1997).(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)