Inspired by stories about the real-world Great Dismal Swamp, this acclaimed fantasy explores alternate history and a family’s supernatural connections to the swamp, perfect for fans of Sinners, Blood at the Root, Judy I. Lin, and Jason Reynolds! ★ "A fierce, loving, and exquisite humanity-centered book." —Kirkus Reviews, starred review ★ "Mesmerizing storytelling. . ." —Publishers Weekly, starred review “Four thousand six hundred forty-two steps in,” Grannylou interrupted. “You remember that now, Baby. Four-thousand six hundred forty-two steps to paradise.” On a damp night in 1722, Babylou Mac and her three siblings witness the murder of their mother at the hands of the local preacher’s son—so Babylou kills him in retaliation. With plantation dogs now on their heels, the four siblings breach the treacherous confines of the Great Dismal Swamp learning to live freely within the swamp’s natural—and supernatural—protection. Three-hundred years later, college student Atlas comes home to North Carolina for her family's annual cookout and hog roast. But this time, Grannylou’s usual riddles and folktales about a marvelous paradise deep in the Great Dismal Swamp start to take on a tangible quality. Change coming. When Dismal calls, sucking Grannylou in, it’s up to Atlas and her cousins to uncover the history that the black waters hold. Centuries of family tension are about to be dug up. Because the power their grandmother helped cultivate hundreds of years ago—steeped in Black resistance, familial love, and the otherworldly mysteries of the Great Dismal Swamp—is bubbling back up. But so is a bitterness that runs deep as the swamp’s waters. And some are ready to take what they feel they’re owed.