Full Text Reviews: Booklist - 04/15/2015 Bones is a slave girl on a Virginia plantation; Lady Bess is the daughter of the Duke of Kent, living on the Isle of Wight; Mary Margaret is an Irish immigrant residing in Boston. When Bones finds her real name—Agnes May—written in her master’s slave registry, she rips out the page and places it in a bottle that she sets free on the James River. Over the course of two years, this bottle travels back and forth across the Atlantic, linking the three girls together. Each girl’s story is compelling in its own right, but together they weave a tapestry of intelligence, courage, and resourcefulness. Smolik’s writing is beautiful, supported by research (sourced at the back of the book) that gives each girl’s narrative a distinct tone and sense of place. This is a story about the inherent freedom of language and ideas. As such, the concept of lives linked so tenuously rings with authenticity despite the seeming implausibility of the bottle’s journey. - Copyright 2015 Booklist. Loading...
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