This is an ambitious and successful debut novel that spans generations of a family born from slavery and abuse. Card explores the choices made by each generation--choices made by the characters directly and indirectly because of trauma inflicted upon them and their ancestors--and she gives the characters the freedom to err in their own ways and to be specific and flawed.

Card's characters aren't heroes; and they're not flat stereotypes in a parable, either. They are fully realized, and even though the reader doesn't get each life story in full, we get enough of each to understand that the family lineage is a character itself.

Card moves from the present to the past, from character to character, with a smoothness that connects each character's story in just the right spots. Her writing is lyrical, and it's emotional without being sentimental.