Early Praise for The Purchase :

"In The Purchase , one man's unsettling betrayal of his own moral code creates unforeseen ripples that sweep over multiple generations. Thanks to Spalding's compassion and the singular brilliance of her narration, this transfixing novel weaves a tale that is both intimate in nature and, ultimately, huge in scope." -Gil Adamson, author of The Outlander

"A poised and moving novel about the indignities of slavery and the moral stain at the inception of the American republic. The astonishing historical detail never detracts from the poignancy of the characters or the compelling narrative, which quickly swells into a drama of blood, betrayal and belonging." -Caryl Phillips, author of Crossing the River and The Final Passage Praise for the Canadian edition:

" The Purchase is as engrossing as it is partly because it is set in a time, the dawn of the 19th century, and a place, the frontier society of slave-owning Virginia, where bad judgment could very easily prove fatal.  [Readers] will find themselves immersed in a powerful mood, a feeling of something dark and brooding and yet bracing, in one of the finest historical novels in recent years." -Philip Marchand, The National Post

"With The Purchase, Spalding places a contemporary spin on the traditional novel of the antebellum South:  Frontier adventure meets plantation romance meets slave narrative-and to haunting effect . . . It reads like a disturbing dream imbued with the power of myth." -Donna Bailey Nurse, The Toronto Globe and Mail 

"A complex and engaging novel that is Hardy-esque in its examination of the consequences of the purchase of  a young African man . . . a powerful novel of personal tragedy that ends in a hopeful way." -Peter Robb, Ottawa Citizen