Here’s a glimpse into the past, but not the steppin fletchin people we often see. The preacher, Virgil, is trying raise his daughter, keep his business flourishing and do a good job as mayor. Then comes Amanda Stewart. She turns him inside out and upside down, but in the end the change is for the best.
Slavery may have ended, but not everyone was happy with the change. The white people wanted the blacks to respond as though they were still slaves and a person of color still had to know their place. Know how to act around white people. White folks ran the lives of their former slaves and Mrs. Millford no different. After all she knows what’s best for her slaves.
Virgil is insecure because his secret, a secret that I guessed the minute he mentioned it. Piper didn’t try to make the secret something deep and dark that you couldn’t figure it out. After Virgil’s first sermon, it Amanda knew his secret.

The book was well written and the characters believable. It was good to see the characters develop and change during the novel. ( )