All We Were Promised

"For her debut novel, journalist and author Ashton Lattimore has outdone herself. Set in pre-Civil War Philadelphia, All We Were Promised follows the lives of Charlotte, who escaped enslavement in the South; her friend Nell, a wealthy budding Black abolitionist; and Evie, Charlotte’s friend who reaches out for help escaping her mistress during a trip to Philadelphia. This dense but riveting novel delves into Pennsylvania’s 1780 Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery, as well as the burning of Pennsylvania Hall, an abolitionist venue destroyed by a mob just days after it opened in 1838. It’s an inspiring story of a fight for freedom and friendship that you won’t be able to put down."