Truth be told, she had believed that trokosi was akin to indentured servitude and not at all like the slavery that black Americans wailed on an on about. But now she saw that it was indeed the same -- the evidence was stamped all across Abeo’s body like footprints in sod.”
-- Serafine, Abeo's mother (Chapter 40)

Importance: This quote shows the gulf of misunderstanding between Serafine and her daughter, Abeo. It occurs late in the novel after Abeo has been living with Serafine for several weeks. Serafine does not understand the brutality her daughter has endured and, before this point, believes ritual servitude could not have been as bad as slavery in the United States. Right before this quote, however, Serafine sees the scars on Abeo's back and realizes she has not understood the depth of what her daughter has suffered. In this quote, McFadden suggests that ritual servitude and slavery in the United States...