Lizan Mitchell

A historical tale inspired by the decades-long relationship between Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings details their first encounters in late-eighteenth-century Paris and the inconsistent values that shaped their affair.

As did his father before him, Pierce Butler treats his plantation slaves like family. But massive gambling debts force him to sell 429 "family" members. When the auction begins, torrential rain falls-not stopping until the final slave is sold the next day. The ominous rainfall prompts these words: "This ain't rain. This is God's tears." Based on the largest slave auction in U.S. history, this poignant montage is the fictionalized account of that 1859...