At the end of the Civil War, Madge, who has the power to heal; Sadie, who can commune with the dead; and Hemp, who is searching for his family, arrive in Chicago where they are all caught up in a desperate battle for survival in a community desperate to lay the pain of the past to rest. 100,000 first printing. - (Baker & Taylor)
"Set during the Civil War era and exploring the next chapter of history-the end of slavery-this powerful story of love and healing is about three people who struggle to overcome the pain of the past and define their own future"-- - (Baker & Taylor)
At the end of the Civil War, three people--Madge, who has the power to heal; Sadie, who can commune with the dead; and Hemp, who is searching for his family--arrive in Chicago where they all battle to survive in a community desperate to lay the pain of the past to rest. - (Baker & Taylor)
The New York Times bestselling author of Wench returns to the Civil War era to explore the next chapter of history—the trauma of the War and the end of slavery—in this powerful story of love and healing about three people who struggle to overcome the pain of the past and define their own future.
The Civil War has ended, and Madge, Sadie, and Hemp have each come to Chicago in search of a new life.
Born with magical hands, Madge has the power to discern others’ suffering, but she cannot heal her own damaged heart. To mend herself and help those in need, she must return to Tennessee to face the women healers who rejected her as a child.
Sadie can commune with the dead, but until she makes peace with her father, she, too, cannot fully engage her gift.
Searching for his missing family, Hemp arrives in this northern city that shimmers with possibility. But redemption cannot be possible until he is reunited with those taken from him.
In the bitter aftermath of a terrible, bloody war, as a divided nation tries to come together once again, Madge, Sadie, and Hemp will be caught up in a desperate, unexpected battle for survival in a community desperate to lay the pain of the past to rest.
Beautiful in its historical atmosphere and emotional depth, Balm is a stirring novel of love, loss, hope, and reconciliation set during one of the most critical periods in American history.
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HARPERCOLL)
“Powerful characters and exquisite prose bring to life a tumultuous period of American history that still demands our attention.”—Tara Conklin, New York Times bestselling author of The House Girl
The Civil War has ended, and Madge, Sadie, and Hemp have each come to Chicago in search of a new life. Born with magical hands, Madge has the power to discern others’ suffering and ease it, but she cannot heal her own damaged heart. To mend herself and continue to help those in need, she must return to Tennessee to face the women healers who rejected her as a child.
Sadie can commune with the dead, but until she makes peace with her father, she, too, cannot fully engage her gift.
Searching for his missing family, Hemp arrives in this northern city that shimmers with possibility. But redemption cannot be possible until he is reunited with those taken from him.
In the bitter aftermath of a terrible, bloody war, as a divided nation tries to come together once again, Madge, Sadie, and Hemp will be caught up in an unexpected battle for survival in a community desperate to lay the pain of the past to rest.
“A powerful novel inspired by our nation’s past.” —New York Journal of Books
“The complexity of her characters and visual power of her prose make for riveting reading.”—Valerie Martin, author of The Ghost of the Mary Celeste
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HARPERCOLL)
Booklist Reviews
After the Civil War, three souls cross paths in Chicago. One is a free black woman, Madge, who can no longer stand the enmity of her bitter mother and aunts in Tennessee and goes to Chicago to continue her trade as a herbalist. Another is Sadie, a young white woman from Pennsylvania who is made to marry a near stranger, ostensibly to get her out of the reach of wartime violence but also, she suspects, in return for a healthy payment to her financially strapped father. When her new husband dies suddenly, she finds a calling as a medium, connecting the grieving with their loved ones swallowed by war. The last is Hemp, a freed slave who stayed on at the Kentucky plantation in case his wife, sold before emancipation, would try to find him there. Each one struggles to find true freedom in their new circumstances. They struggle to find a balm for their pain—and to be a balm to others. Through diverse means—spirituality, medicine, or simply allowing themselves to love—they seek to transcend the ravages of personal and national history. Copyright 2014 Booklist Reviews.
Library Journal Reviews
After the daring Wench, a New York Times best-selling debut about masters and their slave mistresses, Perkins-Valdez travels with three characters to post-Civil War Chicago. Madge intuits the suffering of others but cannot mend herself, Sadie's gift for communing with the dead will fail her if she cannot reconcile with her father, and Hemp won't find happiness until he reunites with his missing family. With a 100,000-copyfirst printing.
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Library Journal Reviews
When Madge, a freeborn black woman from Tennessee skilled in the art of making healing ointments, teas, and balms from herbs and bark, takes a maid's position with Sadie, an unhappy, white widow in Chicago who speaks with the dead, both women are hesitant to reveal their secrets, remembering past hurts. The two main male characters are equally troubled. Sadie's doctor friend, Michael, is racked with guilt over not enlisting during the Civil War, and Hemp, a former slave, has to fight off his feelings of attraction to Madge while he searches for his wife, who was sold off before the war. In their individual ways, they are all walking wounded—in need of spiritual soothing. The author deftly weaves her characters' longings with the gritty realities of American life after war's devastations. VERDICT No sophomore slump is in evidence here. Readers who were captivated by Perkins-Valdez's first novel, Wench, will be intrigued by the post-Civil War lives of three Southern transplants to Chicago. [See Prepub Alert, 11/10/14.]—Laurie Cavanaugh, Holmes P.L., Halifax, MA
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