PULITZER PRIZE WINNER • LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD IN FICTION • A NEW YORKER BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR • From one of our most accomplished novelists, a mesmerizing story about a mother and daughter seeking refuge in the chaotic aftermath of the Civil War—and a brilliant portrait of family endurance against all odds

“A searing portrait of the cruelties of race, the insanity of war, and the tragedy of its aftermath.”
—Drew Gilpin Faust, author of This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War

“There is a luminous beauty in Phillips’s prose. Whether it is the dark interiors of war—which have become her forte—or the equally complex and fraught lives of so-called ‘ordinary’ people, Phillips brings these theaters of peace and loss, death and transcendence together with a remarkable alchemy.”—Ken Burns, filmmaker

“Gorgeous prose, attention to detail, and masterful characters . . . Set in West Virginia during and after the Civil War, Phillips’ book takes as given that slavery was evil and the war a necessity, focusing instead on lives torn apart by the conflict and on the period’s surprisingly enlightened approach toward care of the mentally ill . . . Pitch-perfect voice . . . Haunting storytelling and a refreshing look at history.”—Kirkus, starred

“Exquisite attention to detail propels a superb meditation on broken families in post–Civil War West Virginia . . . A profound sense of loss haunts the novel, and Phillips conveys a strong sense of place . . . The bruised and turbulent postbellum era comes alive in Phillips’s page-turning affair.”—Publishers Weekly, starred

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