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The year is 1739. Eliza Lucas is 16-years-old when her father leaves her in charge of their family's three plantations in rural SC and then proceeds to bleed the estates dry out in pursuit of his armed forces ambitions. Tensions with the British isles and with the Spanish in Florida, just a brief way down the shoreline, are increasing, and slaves are becoming restless. Her mother wants nothing more than for their SC endeavor to fail so they can get back to England. Soon, their family is at risk of losing everything. Reading how much the French purchase indigo dye, Eliza is convinced it is the key to their salvation. But everyone tells her it's impossible, and no person will share the secret to rendering it. Thwarted at almost every turn, even by her own family, Eliza detects her only allies in an aging horticulturalist, an older gentleman attorney, and a slave with whom she strikes a dangerous package: teach her the elaborate, thousand-year-old secret process of making indigo dye and, in return - up against the laws of your day - she'll teach the slaves to read. So begins an incredible report of dangerous and invisible friendships, ambition, betrayal, and sacrifice. Based on historical documents and Eliza Lucas' own letters, this is a historical fiction profile of how young Eliza Lucas produced indigo dye, which became one of South Carolina's largest exports, an export that laid the foundation for the amazing prosperity of the South. Although basically forgotten by historians, the achievements of Eliza Lucas influenced the course of US history. When she passed away in 1793, President George Washington, at his own question, offered as a pallbearer at her funeral. This book is set between the years 1739 and 1744, with romance, intrigue, forbidden friendships, and politics and financial threats weaving together the story of a remarkable young female whose actions were far before their time.
