I will warn you now, once you start reading this book, you won’t want to put it down, so clear your schedule for a few hours and prepare to be transported to the American south of the nineteenth century. The story takes place on two time lines, during slavery and shortly after, and tells the story of a mother, May Belle and her daughter Rue, both born into slavery and both conjure women. They help deliver babies, treat the sick and injured with herbal medicine and sometimes, perform darker “spells”, when asked. May Belle has learned the hard way to keep out of the plantation owner’s way, if she can, but Rue is a different story. The same age as the owner’s spoiled daughter, she’s been allowed to play with the little girl and dares to want more for her own life. This book is one of the most evocative and moving portraits of slavery I have read since Cane River