Virginia, 1850: 'Ain't many choices for a slave woman. Just know everything I do is for you. You are meant to see freedom.

I's makin' sure.'Pheby Delores Brown was born on the Bell Plantation in Charles City, Virginia. The daughter of the estate's medicine woman, and cherished by the Master's sister, her days as an enslaved girl are almost over... She has been promised freedom on her eighteenth birthday.

But when she finally turns eighteen, the life she has dreamed of is tragically torn from her. Instead of being free, she is thrust into the bowels of slavery at the infamous Devil's Half-Acre, a jail where slaves are broken, tortured and sold every day. Her life flashing before her eyes, Pheby is forced to become the mistress of the jailor, the brutal man who owns the prison.

Yet even in hell, Pheby never loses sight of her freedom. But how much will she have to sacrifice? And in the face of such darkness, will she survive?Just as transfixing as it is devastating, this page-turner is inspired by the true story Mary Lumpkin, the enslaved woman who forged her own path to freedom. Perfect for fans of The Help and The Forest of Vanishing Stars, this heartbreaking read is about hope in a world of hate and the heart-wrenching price of survival.