The American Daughters | Maurice Carlos Ruffin

“An enthralling tale of a secret resistance movement run by Black women in pre-Civil War New Orleans.”—Time“Stirring . . . In telling this important, neglected history with imagination-fueled research, The American Daughters offers an inspiring story of people who show a way forward with their perseverance, bravery and love.”—The New York Times Book Review (Editors’ Choice)AN ELECTRIC LIT AND KIRKUS REVIEWS BEST BOOK OF THE YEARAdy, a curious, sharp-witted girl, and her fierce mother, Sanite, are inseparable. Enslaved to a businessman in the French Quarter of New Orleans, the pair spend their days reminiscing about their family’s rebellious and storied history and dreaming of a loving future. When mother and daughter are separated, Ady is left hopeless and directionless until she stumbles into the Mockingbird Inn and meets Lenore, a free Black woman with whom she becomes fast friends. Lenore invites Ady to join a clandestine society of spies called the Daughters. With the courage in