This riveting novel, based on actual events, reveals American colonial history in a powerful new way. It forcefully overturns the mythos of the American settler and will stay with you forever.

“A tale of graceful devastation.”—Gillian French, author of The Lies They Tell

“Fraught with tension, longing, and an increasing sense of dread that makes it difficult to look away.”—Erin Bowman, author of Vengeance Road

After the long journey from England, Ellis arrives in America full of hope. James Fort is where a better life will begin for her: where she will work as an indentured servant to Henry Collins and his pregnant wife, gain financial security, and fall deeply in love with bold, glorious Jane Eddowes.

But as summer turns to fall, Ellis begins to notice the cracks in this new life—the viciousness of the colonists toward the Indigenous people and the terrifying anger Henry uses to control his wife and Ellis—leaving her to wonder if she has sentenced herself to a prison rather than a new home.

Then winter arrives and hunger grips the Fort. Ellis is about to learn that people will do whatever it takes to survive.