Title: Balm
Description: "Set during the [era after the Civil War] and exploring the next chapter of history--the end of slavery--this ... story of love and healing is about three people who struggle to overcome the pain of the past and define their own future"--

The Civil War has ended, and Madge, Sadie, and Hemp have each come to Chicago in search of a new life. Born with magical hands, Madge has the power to discern others' suffering, but she cannot heal her own damaged heart. Sadie can commune with the dead, but until she makes peace with her father, she, too, cannot fully engage her gift. Searching for his missing family, Hemp arrives in this northern city hoping to be reunited with those taken from him. All three will be caught up in a desperate, unexpected battle for survival in a community desperate to lay the pain of the past to rest.
Subjects: Spiritualism, Freedmen, Missing persons, Healers, History, African Americans, Fiction, Fathers and daughters, FICTION, Emotions, Grief, Historical, African American, General, War, FICTION / Historical, FICTION / African American / Historical, FICTION / General, Fiction, historical, general, United states, history, civil war, 1861-1865, fiction
Places: United States, Chicago (Ill.)
Time periods: Civil War, 1861-1865, 1865-1898, 19th century