Mapmaker’s Children by Sarah McCoy
Sarah Brown, daughter of John Brown, is forced to come to
terms with her father’s death after the raid on Harper’s Ferry. She discovers
her talent as an artist can be used to further the cause of Abolition by
painting pictorial maps for use on the Underground Railroad. Smuggled on pieces of cloth the maps are
easily hidden in dolls that are sent south .
Some dolls are used to carry medical supplies, messages and the
maps. Sarah embraces her ability to help
and keep the route alive.
Unable to have children, Sarah denies herself marriage to
the man she loves yet maintains a by today’s standards, cryptic correspondence with Freddy Hall for
the rest of their lives. What we know of
Sarah’s activities is from these letters today.
Eden Anderson and her husband recently purchased Apple Hill
House and she finds in the root cellar the porcelain head of a Civil War era
doll. Eden is desperate for children but
finds she can’t carry a pregnancy. Her
marriage suffers but Eden finds through the people in the town reasons to focus
on something other than herself. As she
comes out of and yet into herself she discovers other ways to love and nurture
children.
The mystery of the doll head is the thread carried back and
forth between the stories of Eden and Sarah and we learn much more detail about
the ways the Underground Railroad operated.
Sarah Brown is a real person, she was John Brown’s daughter,
she did paint picture maps for the Underground Railroad. That in itself made the story all the more
compelling. This book was provided by Blogging for Books
for review
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