Two Wings to Hide My Face

Now available from Bywater Books

​​Award-winning author and journalist Penny Mickelbury returns to pre-Civil War Philadelphia to continue the powerful saga of Genie Oliver and Abigail Read.

The streets of Philadelphia in early 1861 are ever more perilous for the Black residents and their close friends, because being White will not protect or save them from the rising tide of anti-Black hatred sweeping the city. Perhaps even more dangerous is the talk of war sweeping the nation—a war between the South and the North…between the states where slavery is practiced legally and those where it is not. And even though slavery is illegal in Philadelphia, no legal action is taken against the roving gangs of so-called slave catchers who openly kidnap free Blacks and sell them South, into slavery.

And if there is a war, and if the South should win—it is too horrific a possibility to contemplate. A run to a place of freedom is the only real alternative, and Canada is the only place where real freedom is a possibility for the Blacks. And not only aiding their escape but joining them is the only real alternative for the Whites who love them like family.

So as the newly formed entity called the Confederate States of America launches the attack on Fort Sumpter to start the Civil War, Genie Oliver, Maggie and Jack Juniper and their children, Ezra MacKaye, and Ada Lawrence embark on a journey to Toronto via land and water, a journey as fraught with danger as remaining in Philadelphia.

Two Wings to Fly Away

The Fugitive Slave Act was passed by the US Congress in 1850. Abolitionists nicknamed it the “Bloodhound Law.”

In 1856 Philadelphia, a cross-dressing slave named Genie Oliver uses her dress shop as a front for her work with the Underground Railroad. Reluctant white heiress Abby Read runs a rooming house, not only because she rejects the life of an idle society woman, but because she has no intention ever to marry a man. When the young daughter of Abby’s free Black servant, Maggie, is recovered after being grabbed by rogue slave catchers, Abby connects with Genie, a white Pinkerton’s agent, and an unlikely cast of characters from all walks of life. The diverse group risks everything when they join forces to protect the great abolitionist Harriet Tubman’s effort to guide escaped slaves to freedom.

While racial and economic tensions begin to boil over across the country, Abby and Genie discover a profound friendship, a shared purpose—and the promise of something more. Two Wings to Fly Away paints a stunning portrait of a divided nation hurtling toward Civil War, set against a backdrop of courage, community, and the healing power of love.