Kai Thomas has crafted a wonderful story of two strong-willed women, the fictional town of Dummore located in Upper Canada, and the history of slavery in North America.

Lensinda Martin is a Black journalist in mid-1800s Ontario. She lives in Dunmore, a place settled by escaping slaves from America. Lensinda is drawn into a messy situation when a slave hunter is killed by Cash, an elderly woman hiding in the town. Cash refuses to flee to save herself, and the farmer hiding her asks Lensinda to get Cash's testimony before Cash's trial.

Cash insists on the two women exchanging tales, forcing Lensinda to listen to not only how Cash ended up killing the man after her, but how Cash started life as a slave and the many horrible things she experienced over her long years. Along the say, Lensinda begins to get inklings that Cash's past and her own are linked, and Lensinda also sees how intricate and intertwined the relationships are between the indigenous, white and Blacks on the continent.

This was an utterly mesmerizing story of how interconnected the lives and cultures are of the indigenous with whites, and with freed and enslaved Blacks in North America. Kai Thomas’ voice is confident and often lyrical as Lensinda and Cash trade stories and parts of their experiences with each other. The history of North America is complex, and the border between Canada and the US is ephemeral as people travel between the two countries, but attitudes and ideas and blood connect them into a complicated and messy whole.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Penguin Random House Canada for this ARC in exchange for my review.