A more perfect union by Tammye Huf

Published: 2020, Myriad Editions

Genre: Fiction

Themes: Love story, Irish famine, slavery, nineteenth century America

My rating (out of 5): ❤❤❤❤❤

Based on the true story of the author's great-great-grandparents, this is a fictionalised account of a forbidden love that defied all the societal rules in nineteenth century America.

Sarah is a house slave working for the owner of a cotton plantation and Henry is an Irish immigrant who came to America on a coffin ship having fled the famine in his own country. They meet on a dirt road as Sarah is returning to her owners after a few days of being rented out to a neighbour, and Henry is a jobbing blacksmith travelling along looking for work. They both have to shelter under a tree when a violent thunderstorm brings torrential rain and Henry has his first encounter with a slave.

Henry has always known hunger and poverty but until he came to America he has never known of people being owned as property and treated as though they were little more than livestock. Sarah is terrified being caught on the open road by a white man and she hastily produces her road pass to justify being away from the plantation. She is reluctant to step too close to where he is standing under the tree as she doesn't know who he is, or what his intentions might be. When he speaks to her in normal tones his friendly attitude confuses her as white men don't normally behave like that towards a slave and he could still bring her some kind of trouble however he talks.

During this first encounter Henry sustains a deep wound to his hand after one of his horses tries to bolt and he struggles to restrain it. Sarah has learnt about the medicinal properties of plants from her mother, and after a brief hesitation, she finds yarrow leaves, chews them, and applies them to the wound using a strip torn from the hem of her dress. Henry looks at her in fascination as she works and she feels the gaze of his blue eyes as she handles his pale skin in her dark hands.

The chapters of the book are narrated alternately by Sarah and Henry and also by another of the house slaves named Maple, and we see the growing relationship through the eyes of each of these. The plantation where Sarah works is not as barbaric as many, and the master considers himself to be a Christian man of rules and principles, but the life of any slave is still one of unremitting hardship and fear. The abolitionist movement is just beginning to make its voice heard but still many plantation owners, such as Sarah's master, believe that slavery is quite acceptable as long as Christian principles are applied with vigor.

Tammye Huf has done an excellent job of creating a story that grabs the reader's attention right from the start and maintains the momentum right through to the end. Even though her own history provided the subject matter, it is not easy pulling together historical detail about the Irish famine and slave plantations. It is surprising how much research has to be done just to place characters in the places where they live and what they would see around them.

This book was one of the selections for the Radio 2 book club and I think it would have wide appeal to anyone who enjoys a love story or an historical novel. I would certainly recommend it as a gripping read.

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