All We Were Promised

Praise

“Against the backdrop of untold history, Ashton Lattimore spins a beguiling story of friendship, deception, and women crossing boundaries in the name of freedom. Disparate and deeply real, Charlotte, Nell, and Evie struggle to fully trust one another, but ultimately discover that together they may be stronger than everything their turbulent world casts against them.”—Lisa Wingate, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Lost Friends

“A compelling tale of three Black women caught between the promises and threats of a supposedly free, pre–Civil War Philadelphia.”—Charmaine Wilkerson, author of Black Cake

“Masterfully brings the era to life and kept me turning pages. A triumphant debut!”—Martha Hall Kelly, author of Lilac Girls

“As beautifully written as it is historically sound, and ripe with the overwhelming struggle to right America’s greatest wrong: slavery.”—Sadeqa Johnson, author of The House of Eve

“A stunning debut . . . This riveting story will enthrall you with its promises kept and broken, love lost and found, and paths carved forward with despair and hope.”—Adriana Trigiani, author of The Good Left Undone

“With insight and empathy, this absorbing novel transports us to the turbulent streets of 1830s Philadelphia, where three Black women navigate the dangers of the city as well as their own fraught relationships.”—Catherine Kerrison, author of Jefferson’s Daughters

“Well-researched and beautifully rendered, Ashton Lattimore’s debut delves deep into a pre–Civil War Philadelphia at the crossroads of slavery and independence, an urgent history that builds on every compelling page.”—Afia Atakora, author of Conjure Women

“I highly recommend this important, beautiful book. It has everything I value most in historical fiction: compelling characters, a suspenseful plot, and vivid details, which here bring to life a part of America’s past that continues to resonate painfully today.”—Tara Conklin, author of The House Girl

“This truly impressive debut is a moving story of the heart’s cry for independence, regard, and honor, deftly told.”—Susan Meissner, author of Only the Beautiful

“So compelling, it’s impossible to put down . . . Nineteenth-century America never felt more gripping or alive.”—Michelle Moran, author of Cleopatra’s Daughter

“Lattimore’s deep research and compelling story will enthrall readers of historical fiction. Her legal acumen illuminates the complex compromises in laws that supposedly ended slavery.”—Martha Minow, author and former dean of Harvard Law School