Maurice Carlos Ruffin’s THE AMERICAN DAUGHTERS initially appears to be a fairly straightforward novel of the antebellum American South. The book opens as its protagonist, a young Black woman named Ady (called Antoinette by her white owner, du Marche), seems to be plotting some kind of action at a gathering of du Marche and his powerful white friends.

The narrative then flashes back to Ady’s childhood, to the strong relationship she had with her mother, Sanite, and the various ways in which Sanite strove to protect her while also trying to find some measure of freedom and safety despite their enslavement. Ady’s childhood offers cycles of hope and tragedy. After a brief taste of freedom, on the run with her mother, she eventually finds herself back in du Marche’s townhouse in New Orleans, where he continues to become more important in city government.

"The epilogue, framed as a transcript of a talk from an academic conference in 2172, sheds new light on Ady’s story, as well as on the novel itself."

For reasons that are unclear, least of all to Ady herself, du Marche decides to have Ady educated. He hires a governess to teach her to read and write in multiple languages, even though any literacy was illegal for enslaved people to possess. By inviting Ady to accompany him to an underground club called the Mockingbird, owned by a free Black woman named Leonore, du Marche also unwittingly introduces du Marche to the people and places that will change her life.

Ady is immediately drawn to Lenore and feels welcomed and accepted by the diverse staff and guests at the Mockingbird. Unbeknownst to du Marche, she even begins working at the inn. In a city that is home to both enslaved people and many free Blacks, Lenore and her colleagues don’t realize that Ady is one of the former. It’s there that she discovers that Lenore and the tough-talking runaway, Alabama, are members of a nationwide underground network of female spies known as The Daughters. As signs of impending civil war begin to mount, The Daughters play intrinsic roles in seeding chaos and misinformation, helping to ensure that the Confederate forces never gain a sure foothold in New Orleans.

As Ady’s story progresses, the historical narrative is increasingly interrupted by other documents --- transcripts, memos, excerpts --- from more recent history and even from the future. The epilogue, framed as a transcript of a talk from an academic conference in 2172, sheds new light on Ady’s story, as well as on the novel itself. It helps account for the somewhat rushed conclusion of the historical narrative and asks new questions about the truthfulness of Ady’s narration. This metafictional approach offers additional depth to the novel and might even prompt some readers --- like those 22nd-century academics --- to flip back to the beginning of Ady’s story and reread it with these questions in mind.