Summary

Sarny, a twelve-year-old slave on the Waller plantation, opens the novel by saying that this story is just as much about her as it is about Nightjohn. There have been rumors that Sarny brought Nightjohn to the plantation through witchcraft, but she knows it was God that brought him to her. Before she tells the story about Nightjohn coming to their plantation, she tells the reader a bit about the plantation itself. It’s run by Master Waller, who is a violent slave-owner. When Sarny was born, she came out backward, which might be what started the witchcraft rumors. Almost immediately, Sarny was separated from her “birth mammy” and given to her “mammy,” an old woman named Delie. Delie was responsible for raising all of the newborns. Sarny’s birth mammy was sold when Sarny was four-years-old.

Even though she’s only twelve, Sarny still...