Last Stop Freedom
Julia Bigsby is a spinster whose clergyman father discourages any possible suitors so she can remain at his beck and call as his personal assistant. Through a fortuitous set of circumstances, she meets Nathaniel Hamilton, a dashing planter from South Carolina. He pursues her and asks for her hand after a brief but intense courtship. She accepts, convinced another opportunity to escape her father's influence will never come along.
She soon comes to regret her decision. Her husband is autocratic and unyielding, her new family rejects her, and the South's brutal system of slavery violates every principle she holds dear. Her attempts at rebellion meet with ever more strict measures until her marriage becomes a prison worse than the one imposed by her father. One constant keeps her sane: her warm affection for her maid Fanny, a slave girl whose intellect and stoic wisdom have inspired Julia's respect and admiration.
Fanny has come to her new mistress from a life fraught with secrecy and insecurity. She is awed to discover that Julia treats her like an equal and friend. This blessing is compounded when she meets the estate's blacksmith, the gentle giant Jacob. They fall in love and marry, but Nathaniel's unbridled lust for Fanny threatens whatever contentment they are able to find. Family chaos ensues, prompting Nathaniel's decision to sell Fanny away. Her only hope of remaining with Jacob is for them to escape before their master can act.
An agent of the Underground Railroad offers to spirit the two slaves north to Canada and freedom. Life without Fanny is too bleak for Julia to contemplate, and she decides to flee with them. Thus begins a harrowing journey that tests the fugitives' faith, ingenuity and resolve and brings Julia a second chance at love and happiness.
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