Hailed as "remarkable" (Philadelphia Inquirer), "astonishing" (Essence), and "spellbinding" (Detroit Free Press), Lalita Tademys first novel, Cane River, was a New York Times bestseller and the 2001 Oprah Book Club Summer Selection. Now, once again, Tademy weaves together history and the story of her own family to bring us an epic work of fiction, the dramatic, intertwining tale of two families struggling to make a place for themselves in an America deeply divided after the Civil War.

For the newly freed black residents of Colfax, Louisiana, the beginning of Reconstruction promised them the right to vote, own property, and, at last, control their own lives. But in the space of a day, angry whites would take back Colfax in one of the most brutal incidents of racial violence in Southern history. In the bitter aftermath, the Tademys and the Smiths will have to deal with the wreckage, push on, and build a better life for their sons and daughters over the next seventy years.

Bonus Material includes:  Family Tree and Album Maps and Markets. An Author Interview and Narrator Photos

LALITA TADEMY is a former vice president of Sun Microsystems. She left the corporate world to immerse herself in tracing her family's past and in writing her first highly acclaimed novel, Cane River, the 2001 Oprah Book Club Summer Selection. Lalita Tademy lives in northern California with her husband.

TIM CAIN has an eclectic resume that includes off-Broadway and regional theater. He has enjoyed narrating live with varied artists in addition to several holiday seasons traveling with the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Tim can also be heard on Walter Mosley's The Wave.

GAMMY SINGER has appeared on Broadway in Seven Guitars and in numerous off-Broadway and regional theater productions. Her television and film credits include Head Of State, Independence Day, General Hospital, and Mad About You.