In this deeply moving and heartfelt memoir, Rowell shares her astonishing story of growing up in the foster care system, and pays tribute the remarkable women who taught the young girl to become the person she is today.

The relationships between white middle-class women and their black maids in Jackson, Miss., circa 1962, reflect larger issues of racial upheaval in Mississippi-native Stockett's ambitious first novel.

Snatched from her home in Africa, sixteen-year-old Raisha begins her new life on the island of St. Jon as a slave on Jost van Prok's plantation.  Even as a sheltered house servant, Raisha cannot ignore the terrible suffering of other slaves.  But is she willing to risk her life to help a group of runaways?