All We Were Promised (Ballentine Books 2024) by Ashton Lattimore is a literary historical novel set in 1837 in which the author accomplishes exactly what an excellent historical novel should—that is, she blends well-researched, accurate historical facts into a fictional plot to create a fascinating, eminently readable, and suspenseful story. Readers will learn true history from this book, and they will be entertained in the process with this crisply written, gripping story.

The protagonists, three Black women from different backgrounds and situations, are fully developed, rich characters who are drawn together in the tense, often dangerous Philadelphia abolitionist movement in 1838. Though they all have similar goals—the end of slavery and personal freedom—their approaches and individual situations often put them at odds with each other and their families. Mingled throughout the novel, actual historical figures such as Robert Purvis, Lucretia Mott, Hetty Reckless, William Lloyd Garrison, and Angelina Grimke appear, used fictionally but in ways that are consistent with their real-life roles. There are no dull lectures anywhere in the book, yet much accurate information is conveyed within the story lines regarding the abolitionist movement in that time frame and place. The emotions, tensions, conflicts, and danger facing the three women are firmly rooted within actual history. While most of the story takes place in Philadelphia, the back stories of two of the main characters are set in the South and the main antagonist—a loathsome, self-centered widow on a deceptive campaign to marry well—is from the South.

With a recurring theme that “[s]ometimes doing the right thing is more important than doing what’s safest,” the author raises important questions that resonate today in our divisive society. Issues of class struggle, women’s rights, and civil rights of Blacks, which are important elements in this novel, resound to this good day. Yet, the author manages to avoid becoming preachy, overly didactic, or strident in conveying such issues within the story.

The three young women at the center of the story bring their contrasting experiences as Black women in 1838 into the novel. Charlotte is an escaped slave living as a freed woman in Philadelphia. She is protected by her father, also an escaped slave, but one who passes as white. Though she appears safe, Charlotte lives with the fear of being caught and returned to slavery and she yearns to be more than a maid in her father’s house. Nell is a free-born Black, living with her upper-class family, and sheltered by the wealth of her parents. As part of the city’s monied Black elite, she is often unaware of what other Black women deal with on a day-to-day basis—but she will learn as the story developed. Evie is an enslaved young woman visiting in Philadelphia with her callous mistress and desperate to escape before being sent back to the Carolinas, where her future would be grim. Uneducated, but bright and determined, Evie’s quest for freedom soon pulls Charlotte and Nell into acute danger when their paths cross.

In the novel, the women and others in their abolitionist circles and in the city’s Female Antislavery Society, wrestle with questions of what to do, how to do it, and how much risk to personally take upon themselves. Nell’s antislavery group, which includes Black and White women, hold long meetings heavy on procedure but light on direct action, though they regularly draft antislavery statements, circulate such statements around town for signatures, and ship them off to Congress, where they are routinely ignored. Speaking through her characters, the author illustrates the limited political actions allowed women in those days when females could not vote and were largely excluded from political activities and public forums. When Charlotte joins the antislavery group as Nell’s friend, she shakes things up given her own recent experiences as a slave and her demand that the group do something to help actual slaves escape. In advocating for direct action, she riles some of the elite women in the group. Cautiously, Charlotte also keeps her own past as a slave well hidden from everyone—even her friend Nell—and this will have some damning repercussions.

Nell longs to do more, yet she is confined by her more conservative parents, who donate generously to Black causes, but prefer not to be involved in risky activities. As Nell tartly tells her mother and father, there are limits to what one can do by tossing money at people. Yet in Nell’s group of abolitionist women—both White and Black—few take direct action. Charlotte’s challenge to them asking them what they have done to actually help an enslaved person brings about concerns and risks her expulsion from the group. Yet at least one other woman in the organization, a former slave herself, Hetty Reckless (a true historical person used fictionally in the book) is ready and willing to step up and help. Hetty individually responds to Charlotte’s demands that the group take direct action and is soon linking Charlotte and Nell with others who help slaves with direct intervention. As plans to help Evie escape are thwarted more than once, the danger to all involved escalates.

Time is running out for Evie as the intricate plot soon points out the six-month compromise in the laws in Pennsylvania. Though technically a free state, when slaves visited Pennsylvania with their owners, they were not automatically freed but only after six months of living there are they entitled to claim they are free. This allows slave owners to vacation and do business in the state while continuing to own their slaves. Slave owners quickly learned to send their slaves back south before six months expired and then bring them back again. Thus, Evie has a narrow window of six months in which to escape before being sent South again. When Charlotte and Nell commit to helping her escape, they know their timeline is tight and that any failure could send them all into slavery in the Deep South.

Between the Revolutionary War and the Civil War, Philadelphia was home to the largest and arguable most politically active free Black communities in the northern United States, a fact author discusses in her “Author’s Note.” Yet as illustrated by the actions in the plot, Blacks could do very little in the city in that era without risking retribution from White Philadelphia in reprisal. Or as one character realized, Black people in the city hardly had to do anything at all to stir up White folks’ anger. Using established historical facts such as the destruction of Pennsylvania Hall, which was burned within days of its opening, and the agitation to end free Black men’s right to vote, the author does an admirable job of illustrating the precarious balance between personal safety and activism facing Blacks. Within the framework of fiction, the merciless beating of a Black journalist, the kidnapping of free Blacks with an intent to return them South into slavery, the burning down of a business, and the arrest of an abolitionist are all effectively used to show how even free Blacks faced constant danger in a so-called free city.

This is an important book, one that raises vital questions that are significant to this day. It is also a suspenseful novel, with compelling characters and a page-turning quality. But what makes it such a stellar historical novel is how adeptly and accurately the real fact-based history of a place and time are conveyed through the experiences of its three main characters.

Ashton Lattimore

The author, Ashton Lattimore, is a former lawyer, turned award-winning journalist and author. Though All We Were Promised is her debut novel, she has extensive nonfiction publications and is the editor-in-chief at Prism, a nonprofit news outlet by and for communities of color. Her nonfiction has been published in The Washington Post, Slate, CNN, and Essence. A graduate of Harvard College, Harvard Law School, and Columbia Journalism School, Lattimore grew up in New Jersey, and now lives in suburban Philadelphia with her husband and their two sons. ( )

Set in 1833 Philadelphia, the descriptions of the town and its going’s on surrounding abolition through the voices of an enslaved woman, a woman who escaped slavery, and a free, wealthy black woman and their relationship is interesting and caught my attention. Each character with her history and present situation is developed and intertwined. The plot is rather slow moving, even without taking back stories into consideration, but the premise is sound.
*I received an arc from the publisher through NetGalley for an honest review ( )

4.25⭐️

“As the self-proclaimed cradle of liberty, Philadelphia was already a city of broken promises, with accommodationists straining to silence antislavery speech and Southerners shuttling their very much not-at-liberty slaves in and out of the city’s borders. Where abolitionists were concerned, it was fast becoming a city of broken contracts as well.”

Set in 1837 All We Were Promised by Ashton Lattimore is a captivating novel that sheds light on the activism, the politics, and the socio-economic and racial divide in the pre-Civil War Philadelphia. Though Pennsylvania was a “free state” with an active free Black community, racial tensions were high, bigotry and rioting prevalent, with laws that protected Southern slave owners passing through. A combination of fact and fiction, the immersive narrative features several prominent activists and abolitionists from that era and references true events like the burning of Pennsylvania Hall ( 1938) by an anti-abolitionist mob. The author is unflinching in her depiction of bigotry, cruelty and racially motivated violence.

The narrative is shared from the perspectives of three women :
Charlotte is a housemaid and former runaway who is forced to hide her truth – a secret that could upend the lives her father has built for himself, though her life is not what would have hoped for in a “free state”. Nell is the daughter of an affluent Black family who is motivated to do more for those in need of assistance. She is disillusioned when she faces resistance while appealing to the Philadelphia Female Antislavery Society to approve a committee that would play a more active role in aiding runaway slaves. Nell and Charlotte are friends but she is unaware of Charlotte’s past. They frequently attend Antislavery Society meetings together– a secret Charlotte keeps from her father, fully aware that he would rather she stay within the confines of their home.

Charlotte is forced to confront her past when she sees Evie, an enslaved sixteen-year-old in Philadelphia with her mistress Kate, in the market. Kate was the wife of the man who owned Charlotte and her father and Evie took Charlotte’s place after they ran away. Evie knows the kind of life that awaits her and is desperate to escape, She approaches Charlotte for help and Charlotte agrees. But Charlotte knows that she alone would not be able to help Evie and enlists Nell’s help to formulate a plan.

Revolving around themes of friendship, sacrifice and courage, this is a thought-provoking story with well-written characters (even the unlikable ones). The romantic track was subtle and skillfully woven into the primary narrative. The author brilliantly captures Nell’s idealism, Charlotte’s vulnerability and Evie’s desperation - three young women from different circumstances with stories that intersect – shared experiences that enable them to gain perspective, face harsh realities and find their own voices. As they embark on their individual journeys, it is evident that the road ahead will not be easy, but we will want them to succeed. I did feel that certain aspects of the story could have been explored further, but, overall I thought this was a promising debut and look forward to reading more from this author in the future.

The Author’s Note is well-written and informative and definitely enriches the overall reading experience.

Many thanks to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the digital review copy via NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. ( )

Escaped slaves James and Charlotte have sought refugee in Philadelphia. James, able to pass as white has built up a furniture making business, leaving his daughter Charlotte to pose as his maid. Unhappy with her limited life, Charlotte begins making friends with Nell, a free black abolitionist.

This was a well written and paced book. I enjoyed reading about a time period and perspective that I know little about. I did think that Nell felt a bit stereotypical and predictable. She was not as well rounded or developed as the other characters. Overall, 4 out of 5 stars. ( )

Set in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - Pre-Civil War

Did I see Charlotte in the market?

Is that really Evie?

Both Charlotte and Evie had been slaves at the same plantation in a Southern state.

Charlotte escaped with her father, and they now live freely in Philadelphia but are hiding a secret.

Charlotte’s father, a business owner who can pass as a white man, and Charlotte playing his housekeeper live freely hoping their secret will be kept.

It seems as if Charlotte’s father cares only about himself, his business, and his success. I felt sorry for Charlotte and the restrictions her father kept on her.

Evie came to Philadelphia with Katie her mistress, but she desperately wants to be free and not go back to the South with Katie after she marries.

Evie seemed disgusted with everything and abandoned by Charlotte, and I felt bad for her too.

Charlotte becomes friends with Nell, a well-to-do black woman who is trying to help Charlotte get Evie out of Philadelphia, but when Charlotte disappears from Nell's life, she becomes worried.

Can Charlotte and her new friend Nell help Evie now that Charlotte has disappeared? If they do find a way to help Evie, will it compromise their lives?

An excellent, well-researched but heartbreaking historical fiction read with endearing characters you will connect with and tension that will have your heart pounding when evil characters come on the scene. 5/5

Thank you to the publisher for a copy of this book. All opinions are my own. ( )