Cane River by Lalita Tademy

Based on facts, this novel takes place on a Creole plantation on the banks of Louisiana's Cane River and follows four generations of women from slavery to freedom. Starting before the Civil War, the book goes into the early years of the twentieth century. The book is both lush and stark--the lush land of Louisiana and the starkness of life there for blacks. It is a book that sweeps up the reader while taking the reader to a not-so-far-away place and time.