Content Warning: This section contains descriptions of racism, racial violence, enslavement, lynching, sexual assault, graphic wartime violence, antisemitism, and the death of a child. This guide quotes and obscures the author’s use of the n-word.

“In the shadows, he sees her eyes shimmer. But she balances the tears from falling, an art she had been taught long ago when she learned that survival, not happiness, was the real prize.”

This quote highlights how the social structures Stella lives within leave her with little control over her life. It uses imagery to evoke the visual of a shimmering eye and the emotional weight of holding tears back, which represents Stella’s pain and longing. The phrase “an art she has been taught” reflects that the coping mechanism is a learned form of resilience. She feels that happiness is out of her reach as an enslaved person and instead focuses her energy on survival.

“Already the white soldiers that had been assigned to Camp Parapet had begun to grumble loudly about becoming ‘outnumbered’ on the base.”

This quote provides an early example of the racist discrimination that Black soldiers in the Union Army face from their white counterparts. White soldiers complaining about being “outnumbered” reflect their racial anxiety and prejudice. The discontent among white soldiers early in the novel foreshadows increased racial tensions within the Union Army that will affect Black soldiers later in the novel. Edwards and Richman return to this theme throughout the narrative, highlighting the hardships of fighting for the Union as a Black man.

“It’s rows of Creole cottages, that bordered the city line, were filled with light-skinned women, the so-called favorites of wealthy white men, coveted like exotic fruits they hoarded for themselves.”

This quote describes the system of plaçage, the practice that allowed white men in New Orleans to enter forceful intimate relationships with women of color.