1860s New Orleans: Coleman and June are freed slaves, siblings, who still work for their former owners, the Harper family, as though nothing has changed. Wyatt Harper, who is obsessed with June, has taken her and gone to Mexico, and the siblings wonder if they will ever see each other again. When a stranger comes with a letter, Coleman and Mrs Harper and her daughter all answer the summons, but the truth soon comes to light: Wyatt has abandoned his family, and only wants Coleman to use as bait to capture June, who has managed to escape him.

Nathan Harris is the author of The Sweetness of Water.

This book is an adventure story, or an odyssey, with Coleman coming across many trials and tribulations on his way to find June, while his sister resists her captor and wonders if she’ll ever see her brother again. She also is on her own journey, as we learn the story of where Wyatt took her and what’s there, and she eventually finds her way to Amity, a safe place and the title of the book. Including June’s story is in an interesting choice. From Coleman’s perspective, the tension is partly that he doesn’t know if his sister is alive or dead, or in what condition, but by having the reader know she’s coping and actually mostly fine, a lot of that tension or mystery is lost. Also, with his journey being quite dramatic, perhaps even melodramatic, with shipwrecks, deaths, kidnappings, murder… her story feels a bit flat and quiet in comparison.

Coleman feels like our main character. He’s been sheltered as much as possible by June, and he’s managed to get access to Wyatt’s books, which has given him an “uppity” way of behaving, which rubs some former slave owners the wrong way. He’s friendly and chatty, while also being a bit naive or innocent, and this journey takes him out of his comfort zone. He’s tended to stay in spaces he knows, even refusing to run away with June at a point in the past. While the journey leads him out into the world, Coleman grows in confidence, but doesn’t lose his charm, which is nice. June on the other hand, feels less well written than her brother. She’s endured Wyatt’s obsession with her, and managed to use it to gain what small power she could, mostly to protect her brother. She’s more worldly than he is, and because of what’s happened to her, she’s a more internalised, less demonstrative character. That said, she escapes from a man who has controlled her and who has sexually abused her from a young age, straight into another relationship, which seems to fix everything. This feels like a simplification and a misunderstanding of the trauma and the ensuing recovery of a sexual assault survivor. We also never know what she looks like and why she’s so appealing to these men.

One of the best parts of this novel is the dog, Oliver. He belongs to Florence, the daughter of the family, but is taken care of my and essentially belongs to Coleman. We’re told that he’s a terrier, which was a working breed at the time, and not a typical lapdog for a lady of the time period, but perhaps that’s why Florence doesn’t dote on him? Oliver is the best friend and confidant of Coleman, and a lovely addition to the story. Coleman has quite modern and progressive views on animals and their rights for the era, which was a bit anachronistic, but it think it’s fine. Normally if there’s a dog in a book, it’s cause for concern… but don’t worry. Oliver makes it.

Mrs Harper and her daughter were fairly one note to me. Just spoiled white women, naive and grasping. The women in this book are a bit underwritten. And Florence was surprisingly able to do things in this time period that I’m not sure a woman of her station would know how to do or be allowed to do. She’s not at any point afraid of being raped or assaulted. I can’t say more without spoiling the novel, but she has a lot of agency and I’m not sure how realistic that is.

I think the way the author evokes the world of the story is pretty good. It feels atmospheric and most of the time quite realistic. At first, I was comfortable to sink into the world of Coleman, and see where it was all going. The historical elements are there, and the story of the town of Amity and the Seminole people, the things that were happening in the area at that time, are all fascinating. But for me, other than Coleman and Oliver, the characters were all a bit flat and all the events that happen to him are so dramatic. I suppose history can be that way sometimes, but in fiction, a story where there’s a shipwreck AND a kidnapping AND a murder AND… it felt sort of hollow to me. At one point, a man is stabbed in the foot, and a few scenes later, he’s back on the chase, which is not likely with an injury like that and in a time of no antibiotics… I think this one just wasn’t quite there for me, but I can see what the author was going for and I think the history behind the story is compelling.

Read It If: I think if you liked the authors previous book will like this one, perhaps if the subject matter appeals to you, give it a try for yourself. Just wasn’t quite there for me.

Thank you to HBG Canada for the copy of this book for review.