Spring 1855 and Virginian farmer John Dickinson has a dangeroussecret that will have epic consequences. The family's riches have been wasted by John's eckless brother. who holds all of them hostage and their enslaved workers have been visited by a Canadian abolitionist who encourages them to escape. One does, and his pursuit of freedom involves a dangerous journey to find his mother and child north of the border Meanwhile, the Dickinson family become fugitives of another kind, escaping their losses in a wagon en route to a new life in the West.Confronted by hunger, fear and a near fatal river boat accident, each member of the family is tested to their limits. Rich in character and incident, this is an extraordinary, epic novel with echoes of The Underground Railroad and Barbara Kingsolver's Prodigal Summer