Lincoln Barker has earned the title The Picker, for being the fastest picker of cotton in the Deep South, but the time has come for him to work for free no more.Sold to the highest bidder, he must now escape the shackles of slavery. With the help of his "brother" Jason Hudson, son of his master, The Picker sets out on a journey to Ohio, to seek freedom and begin a new life. Unbeknownst to him, his new Master Harold Carter, vows to drag him back to Charleston, South Carolina, by the neck. He pledges never to return to slavery. There is much to gain in Ohio, where all his hopes for a new life await him. However, will his relentless owner give up his quest to capture him at all cost?As The Picker's fame spreads near and far, it poses many challenges for him. Lincoln has a lot to gain and a lot to lose, he must get his freedom, and he must outwit his relentless pursuer. It's a race against time as Jason must find The Picker before Harold does or else he may never see his "brother" again. It's the story of two "brothers" whose status will determine their future with slavery, freedom, the women they love, in a harsh land where greed, wealth, and love flourish for the few and for the privileged. Horane Smith is an award-winning author of fourteen published novels. He has been described as "prolific...a gripping writer...one of our best emerging writers."His novels are: Lover's Leap: Based on the Jamaican Legend, Dawn at Lover's Leap (the sequel and finalist in the 206 USA Booknews Bestbook Awards for Historical Fiction) Port Royal, Underground to Freedom, The Lynching Stream, Reggae Silver, Seven Days in Jamaica and Marooned in Nova Scotia.Lover's Leap has been selected as one of two novels to be used in a presentation on mix-fixed relations, at the 10th International Conference on the Social Sciences and the Humanities, in Montreal, Canada, in June.
