The Orphan Mother

Two years after the Civil War, Mariah Reddick has built an independent life as a respected midwife in Franklin, Tennessee. Formerly enslaved by Carrie McGavock’s family, she owns property and serves women across the town’s racial divisions. When her politically ambitious son Theopolis is murdered, Mariah refuses to accept the explanations offered by officials who have little interest in justice for a Black family.

Her investigation brings her into an uneasy alliance with George Tole, a recent arrival with violence in his own past, and forces her to reconsider her relationship with Carrie and the household that once owned her. The novel uses a fictional crime to explore the promise and danger of Reconstruction: emancipation has created new possibilities, but white supremacy, compromised institutions and concealed histories continue to determine whose grief receives recognition.