A review by serendipitysbooks
All We Were Promised by Ashton Lattimore

emotional informative reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

 All We Were Promised is a solid piece of historical fiction set in Philadelphia in 1837-1838 and follows three black women. Charlotte escaped from slavery with her father. He is white-passing, intent on building his carpentry business, and keeping her safe from slave catchers by mostly confining her to the house as a housemaid. Nell is free born, a member of one one of Philadelphia's influential and wealthy Black families, and active in anti-slavery causes. Evie is a former friend of Charlotte's who is brought to Philadelphia by her mistress, the same mistress Charlotte and her father escaped from. Evie is desperate to flee before she and her mistress return south, where it'll be harder to escape and she'll be forced to start producing babies. The story Lattimore crafted for them was sometimes tense but ultimately satisfying. I was especially interested in the historical context - Philadelphia's Black community, the abolitionist movement and the divisions between those who just wanted to raise money and press for legislative change and those who were willing to assist runaway slaves find their way to freedom, the compromises and loopholes in Pennsylvania's anti-slavery laws, social tensions in Philadelphia around issues of class and race, and of course the riot that led to the burning of Philadelphia Hall. 
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