Historical fiction is not my typical genre but I am so glad I read this. The subject matter was pretty heavy but that is to be expected when discussing a time period about oppression and slavery.

I feel like I need a second book because I was left wanting more and felt like things were not wrapped up completely.

Fox Creek provides an honest look into the world of slavery from many prospectives. It is an enlightening view to that time in history.

Fox Creek is the first adult fiction novel by M.E. Torrey, who has previously authored 12 children’s stories, including the Doyle and Fossey: Science Detectives & Chronicles of Courage series. Torrey is a two-time winner of the Pacific Northwest Writers Associations (PNWA) Zola Award, and outside of writing works in Tanzania as a co-founder of Orphan’s Africa, building boarding schools for children orphaned by disease and poverty. Her extensive background in both story writing and education gave me an initial boost of confidence that this novel would be a good one, and Torrey did not disappoint. Fox Creek is an intense, immersive novel that explores themes of racial disparity, privilege, elitism, identity and what it truly means to be free.

This book is beautifully written, well-paced and despite intense content, tastefully done. I look forward to Torrey's future work, and hope she continues this trend.

This novel takes place on. a southern plantation at the hight of slavery. It highlights the life of mulatto Monette , who at 6 years old is sold to slavery. She becomes the childhood playmate of Kate, the plantation owner’s daughter about the same age. The author depicts the life at the plantation as it was, people sold and bought as merchandise, runaway slaves are severely punished. Monette and Kate get along well until later, when they grow up and Monette realizes, that she is more of a slave than an equal. I loved the book, felt empathy for Monette and certainly didn’t like Kate’s selfish ways, Historical fiction is my favorite genre, and as such, this book did not disappoint. I took one star away for two reasons: the novel could have been shorter without losing anything and I had a hard time understanding why Monette who grew up in a loving family was sold to slavery. Overall a great book, 4 stars.
Thanks NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the advanced copy.

Fox Creek was a pre Civil War story and kept me reading non stop once I started. 6 year old Monette was French Creole and had the run of her daddy's plantation until he died and her half brother sold her. Cyrus was a young slave who was sold away without his mother's knowledge.
They were both sold to Fox Creek Plantation in Louisiana. Monette became a play mate and companion to the plantation owner's daughter and Cyrus was sent to work.
Following their lives and the truths they learned about themselves and everyone else was typical for this time period.
The author, the first time I have read their work, included enough facts to make a realistic story very easy to read.
I was not happy with the ending but that is just a personal choice.
Thanks so much to M.E. Torrey and NetGalley for the copy of this book.

Fox Creek is a difficult yet important read set in the pre-civil war era. A realistic look into life on a plantation for whites and blacks. Brutal and disturbing, the lives of each person and the misconceptions about these individuals is explored.

I enjoyed it. Had some historical timelines and facts in it. I like that in a book. Sad at times and angry at times with some of the characters it thoroughly enjoyed it. Highly recommend!!

This book follows the life of a little girl named Monette who was raised as the daughter of a plantation owner until her father died when she was six. Since her deceased mother was a slave, the father’s son sold her with a bunch of slaves to raise capital to help save the plantation. She ends up at Fox Creek with a family that treats her decently, but she is looked down upon by the other slaves. The story is told from the perspective of many characters which adds depth to the story. The author’s many years of research also helped.

Fox Creek by M.E. Torrey is the story of Monette who is stolen from her family of rich sugar farmers and Cyrus who was stolen from his mother.They are sold into slavery at Fox Creek Plantation and are owned by the Jersey family.This book of historical fiction can not be read quickly and ends with unanswered questions you will have to think about later!It is the first book of adult fiction written by this author.Even though it is 500 pages you will stay interested.Thank you NetGalley and Sly Fox Publishing Company LLC for allowing me to read this ARC!Looking for more from this author.

Fox Creek by M. E. Torrey is a solid read, though it didn’t completely hook me the way I hoped. The setting is atmospheric, and Torrey does a good job of building a sense of place that feels grounded and believable. Some of the characters had depth, especially the protagonist, but others felt a bit underdeveloped or one-dimensional.
The pacing was uneven at times. Certain sections moved along nicely, while others dragged and made it hard to stay engaged. The plot itself had promise, with a few intriguing twists, but it occasionally relied on familiar tropes or predictable turns.

Enjoying my summer at #CampNetGalley and Fox Creek by M.E. Torrey was my pick for this year.

This novel is set in the 1840s Louisiana and follows the story of Monette, the mixed race daughter of a white plantation owner and an enslaved mother. Pampered by her father, Monette is sold into slavery upon his death and sent to auction in New Orleans where she meets Cyrus, another young boy sold away from his family. Both are purchased by the Jensey family and taken to Fox Creek Plantation where Monette ends up being a maid, helper, playmate to their young daughter Kate, and struggles with her place within the household.

This is Torrey's first adult novel and it is done quite well. She does a strong job in switching perspectives between the characters as well as their very complicated relationships with themselves and each other, much like in real life. She allows for the ambiguities of the situation--the "friendship" between Monette and Kate, Sarah teaching Bible lessons, etc. She portrays them as real people with positive and negative qualities, set against the backdrop of an evil institution.

Fox Creek is very character driven, with the relationships taking center stage. However, as many others have noticed, the ending comes a bit abruptly, leaving quite a few questions unanswered about the future of the characters.

Really enjoyed this first novel by the author - great historical perspective! Readers who appreciate historical immersion and a narrative style that feels episodic and character-driven will likely find much to enjoy in M. E. Torrey's work.

I wanted the book to be a little shorter and to be paced a little differently as well. It was very slow up front, and while I appreciated the use of the pace to help us imagine life on an isolated plantation, the ending was one chapter and still left us without full closure.


Thank you to Net Galley, M.E. Torrey and her independent publishing company for the eARC of this book.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Set in 1843 Louisiana (to start), Fox Creek follows six-year-old Monette, born of a white Creole planter and an enslaved Black mother. To settle her father’s debts following his death, Monette is sold into slavery during a large sale along with Cyrus, a young boy torn away from his mother. They are purchased by the Jensey family: Monette becomes the companion of young Kate Jensey, while Cyrus is sent to the fields. As time passes, the veneer of acceptance fades—Monette must navigate a world built upon racial inequality and a profound denial of her own belonging.

Torrey’s writing is both beautiful and heart‑wrenching. Small moments - build into something deeply affecting. Monette and Cyrus are given interior lives grounded in survival and emotional depth. Supporting characters like Sarah and Breck feel real—neither wholly evil nor naïvely kind, shaped by contradiction and conscience. The absence of closure mirrors the racial injustices that endures far beyond the plot’s timeline.

The format of the book occasionally made it slow-going. The jumps between narrators and formats can disrupt emotional momentum, especially if you're expecting a traditional, linear story. In addition, the book is VERY dense, and while id say this is critical its also hard to read quickly. It demands your full attention. While the ending is moving, it felt slightly unresolved. It leaves you wondering what happened. You dont get a concrete answer/closure.

This one of the most powerful books I have ever read. Set an 1850-51 Louisiana, the author portrays daily life on a plantation from the point of view of the white owner, his family, and the slaves as well. You feel like you are right there living it day-to-day . Obviously very well researched. The descriptions and prose are exquisite . Enlightening, informative, with an explosive ending, this novel has it all and is a must read for every historical fiction fan.

Fox Creek by M.E. Torrey is an evocative and devastating historical fiction novel that will stay with me for a long time.

This story is set in the 1840s in Louisiana and depicts some of the realities of the time. It focuses on Monette, who becomes enslaved as a young girl, as well as the family that enslaves her.

The biggest compliment I can give this book is that even though it was very long, coming in at almost 500 pages, I wanted much more when it came to an end and would have gladly read another book of the same length continuing to follow Monette's story.

The writing was wonderful and I would definitely read more from this author. The characters were well drawn and I was able to follow along with the multiple threads of the story. I would have liked there to be more focus on some of the characters and events that were briefly touched on. Because of the way that the book ended, I hope that there will be a sequel as the story isn't over. However, it may also be deliberately left up to interpretation.

Thank you very much M.E. Torrey and Sly Fox Publishing for providing a digital advance reader copy via NetGalley in consideration of a possible review. All opinion are my own. Thank you also to NetGalley for the wonderful CampNetGalley event.

This book depicts in a more realistic manner life on a Southern plantation before the Civil War, for both whites and blacks. It shows that wringing a living out of the land was hard for owners and slaves alike. It also shows that it couldn’t have been done without the slaves and it was a toss up whether they worked for a ‘good’ or ‘bad’ master.

Thank you to Netgalley, Sly Fox Publishing, and M. E. Torrey for this ebook ARC to read. All opinions are my own.

This Camp NetGalley pick wrecked me in the best way. Torrey's unflinching prose makes the plantation's horrors visceral - the sweat, the fear, the quiet rebellions. Monette's struggle to reconcile her stolen past with her precarious present is masterfully drawn, and Cyrus's journey wrecked me. While some character arcs felt rushed (that ending!), the emotional payoff was immense. What elevates this beyond typical historical fiction is its refusal to soften slavery's reality, even as it finds glimmers of humanity.

Fox Creek is a sweeping historical fiction novel set in Louisiana in the mid-1800s. The story is a coming-of-age tale centered around a young girl named Monette, who is sold into slavery after her father's sudden death. Along the way, she forms a friendship with a boy named Cyrus, and together they are sold to Fox Creek Plantation. The story is told through the perspective of the plantation's master, his wife, their children, and Monette. I was so moved by Monette's journey from a child born into privilege, only to have her circumstances dramatically changed as an orphan sold into slavery. Her story offered a glimpse into the struggles many faced during that time under the weight of slavery, racism, and white privilege inherent in the American South during that period. While the pacing is generally good, it slows a bit in the middle as the story goes deeper into the day-to-day workings of the plantation and the people who live and work there. The writing is strong, effectively evoking the emotions and turmoil of that period in American history. Tackling such a complex subject, the author writes that she dedicated 30 years to creating this story. If you enjoy historical fiction set in the South, this book will not disappoint!

Thank you, NetGalley and Sly Fox Publishing LLC, for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I'm on the fence about this book. I chose it as my NetGalley summer camp title (not realizing it was 500 pages long). It's historical fiction, a sweeping family saga set in antebellum Louisiana. It tells the story of plantation family the Jenseys, and also tries to include the stories and perspectives of the enslaved people at Fox Creek. It's historically accurate and well-researched, and there's a long author's note about how the author came to write the book, but I'm just not sure that a Northern white woman should be writing this type of story in the year 2025.

Fox Creek is a gripping story about race, privilege, class, trauma, and the weight of devastating experiences and emotions. It opens with Monette, a six-year-old girl born to a French Creole man and a Black woman (both now deceased), who is taken from her home following the death of her father, Papa Leon. At the same time, ten-year-old Cyrus is sold into slavery by his mother’s employer.

The contrast between the painful journeys of the Black characters and the seemingly normal lives of the white Jensey family—especially children like Breck and Kate—was striking and eye-opening. Torrey doesn't shy away from portraying the full humanity of both the enslaved and the enslavers, which made me reflect deeply. It's unsettling, for instance, to see how sincerely Sarah believed she was doing God’s work.

Torrey is an excellent writer. It's hard to believe this is her first adult novel. Her use of foreshadowing is masterful. The story is unputdownable — suspenseful, layered, reflective, and at times, deeply traumatic.

I found myself wondering whether the author is white or Black. The reason? Both the Black and white characters were rendered with such humanity, emotional clarity, and psychological realism. That kind of nuanced storytelling is rare.

As a writer, I was especially struck by the way Torrey crafted her villains. William, the plantation owner, isn’t a caricature of evil. Though his actions are undeniably harmful, his love for his wife Sarah and his children, Breck and Kate, makes him a complex and deeply human character. Torrey delivered a masterclass in how to portray morally ambiguous villains.

This book opened my eyes to new perspectives. It helped me see the realities of both the white man and the Black man—through their individual experiences and worldviews—and to ache for them both.

This story left a mark. Quiet, but lasting.

Thanks to NetGalley and Sly Fox Publishing for the complimentary copy. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.