THE AMERICAN DAUGHTERS

A gripping historical novel about a spirited girl who joins a sisterhood working to undermine the Confederates

Ady, a curious, sharp-witted girl, and her fierce mother, Sanite, are an inseparable duo. Enslaved to a businessman in the French Quarter of New Orleans, the pair spend their days dreaming of a loving future and reminiscing on their family's rebellious and storied history. When mother and daughter are separated, Ady is left hopeless and direction-less, 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 instilled in her by Sanite - and help from these strong women - Ady learns how to choose herself. So begins her journey toward liberation and imagin-ing a new future.

Part spy thriller, part adventure tale, and part love story, THE AMERICAN DAUGHTERS is a novel of hope and triumph that reminds what is possible when a community bands together to fight for their freedom.

Maurice Carlos Ruffin is the author of short story collection THE ONES WHO DON'T SAY THEY LOVE YOU (One World, 2021), and the novel WE CAST A SHADOW (One World, 2019), which was a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award and the PEN/Open Book Award. A native of New Orleans, he is a graduate of the University of New Orleans Creative Writing Workshop.