The Mapmaker's Children by Sarah McCoy

"When Sarah Brown, daughter of abolitionist John Brown, realizes that her artistic talents may be able to help save the lives of slaves fleeing north, she becomes one of the Underground Railroad's leading mapmakers, taking her cues from the slave code quilts and hiding her maps within her paintings. She boldly embraces this calling after being told the shocking news that she can't bear children, but as the country steers toward bloody civil war, Sarah faces difficult sacrifices that could put all she loves in peril. Eden, a modern woman desperate to conceive a child with her husband, moves to an old house in the suburbs and discovers a porcelain head hidden in the root cellar--the remains of an Underground Railroad doll with an extraordinary past of secret messages, danger and deliverance. Ingeniously plotted to a riveting end, Sarah and Eden's woven lives connect the past to the present, forcing each of them to define courage, family, love, and legacy in a new way"--

"The Mapmaker's Children is the story of Sarah Brown, the vibrant, talented daughter of abolitionist John Brown. Her conventional life trajectory is dynamically changed when she's told the shocking news that she can't bear children and stumbles into her father's work on the Underground Railroad. Realizing that her artistic talents may be able to help save the lives of slaves fleeing north, she becomes one of the movement's leading mapmakers. Since many runaways are unable to read and cannot carry obvious maps demarcating safe houses, Sarah takes her cues from the slave code quilts of her abolitionist colleagues, hiding her maps within her paintings. But joining the mission makes her a target for the same bigotry and hatred that led to the execution of her father and is steering the country toward a bloody civil war. Interwoven with Sarah's adventure is the present-day story of Eden, a modern woman desperate to conceive a child with her husband, who moves to an old house in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. and discovers a porcelain head hidden in the root cellar--the remains of an Underground Railroad doll with an extraordinary past of secret messages, danger and deliverance. Sarah and Eden's connection bridges the past and present, forcing each of them to define courage, family, love and legacy in a new way"--

Two stories - one Civil War era, the other modern. Some mysteries are solved in the course of the book, and it is not a typical romance, I am happy to say.

Loved the Civil War era story line, but much harder to get into the modern day one – really didn't like that main character or her brother or her husband (but did like everyone else in the town)

I find it necessary to tell you that I'm an extremely picky reader when it comes to Historical Fiction. As a genre, it just never seems to hold my attention as well as most others. However, once in a while I find a gem. A book that not only captures my imagination, but enfolds me in the rich history that hides inside of it. Sarah McCoy creates this beautiful, lifelike story that just begs you to keep reading. I'm proud to say that I devoured this book, and was eager for more.

The Mapmaker's Children brings to life the story of Sarah Brown, the daughter of abolitionist leader John Brown. While this is fiction, you can tell that there is a hefty amount of fact woven seamlessly in. Sarah's bravery, her artistic ability, her fierce love for her family, were all penned expertly into this story. I felt like I was right beside her, for all the pain and all the joy. She was such a strong woman, and I took an instant liking to her passion for the fight. With every page, I grew to love her more and more. McCoy makes you care, and it's brilliant. Brilliant, and heartbreaking.

Tied up in Sarah's story is the story of another, more modern day, woman named Eden. In fact, The Mapmaker's Children is told in alternating chapters between these two. Generally I'm not a fan of alternating points of view. In this case though, it works just perfectly. See, Eden's home holds secrets. Secrets that, as I soon discovered, directly tied in to Sarah's history as well. I was enamored with this fact. That two women, so similar and yet so different, could be tied together by fate. If Sarah's character wasn't enough to make me love this book, seeing her history slowly uncovered in parallel with Eden's life made it all the more enjoyable. I won't spoil, but trust me when I say that it's well worth the wait.

Truly, I could go on and on about this book. There's so much to it. It has this lushness about it that just makes you fall into the pages and not want to crawl out again. The settings are vivid, the characters are three dimensional, and the entire book has this sense of familial love to it that just made me feel at home. It takes a lot to impress me lately, but this book absolutely did. The Mapmaker's Children definitely deserves a space on your to-be-read pile.