This is a story of legacy. One rough cotton bag, called “Ashley’s Sack,” is embroidered with just a handful of words that evoke a sweeping family story of loss and of love. In 1850s South Carolina, just before nine-year-old Ashley was sold, her mother, Rose, gave her this sack filled with just a few things as a token of her love.  It was passed down through generations. 

NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER • NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

WINNER: PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award, Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, Ralph Waldo Emerson Prize, Lawrence W. Levine Award, Darlene Clark Hine Award, Cundill History Prize, John Kelly Memorial Prize, Massachusetts Book Award

“[A] brilliant and compassionate account.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Through [Miles’s] interpretation, the humble things in the sack take on ever-greater meaning, its very survival seems magical, and Rose’s gift starts to feel momentous in scale.”—Rebecca Onion, Slate 

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