New York: Harper Collins, (1999.) dj. Hardcover first edition - Set during the days of slavery and afterwards, this is a multi-generational novel of the lives of three African American women, born and raised as house slaves at Montpelier, the Virginia plantation of James Madison and his wife Dolley. Based on the life of the author's great-great grandmother. 348 pp. ISBN: 0-06-0172789.