There's Indian in my family...

The time is 1838.

Armentia pointed to a well on the land their Cherokee master owns. "It seems hard to believe now, son, but someday we'll have our own land. Land with a well just like this one…."

Inspired by true events, authentic slave narratives, and other historical accounts, Abraham's Well is the profoundly moving story of the Black Cherokee--African Americans, both slave and free--who, along with native people, walked the Trail of Tears. It is the story of their forced removal from the Southeast to Indian Territory--modern day Oklahoma--and of the courage and faith of one woman as she struggles to overcome her desperate circumstances.

And it is the story of an author who, in researching and writing, found her own way home.

Endorsements for Abraham's Well

...a special book that tells the complex story of the life of a black family immersed in Indian culture, language and history. ... a poignant story ...well-told story.  The reader will long remember Abraham's Well and will be touched ....
--Angela Y. Walton-Raji, genealogist and author, African-NativeAmerican.com/  

"Foster returns to historical fiction with an evocative tale of the sticky lies and bloody promises of an often untold journey in American history--the trek of the Indian slave on The Trail of Tears. As a Christian, a woman, an African American and one who also has "Indian in her family" this book took me 1000 miles in both my heart and mind. As always, Foster's mastery of setting and language paint a family and a nation that we must never forget. This book will be required reading for all my children and their children after them. It's not to be missed."
--Marilynn Griffith, author of Pink and Made of Honor

"Sharon Ewell Foster merges little known history with fiction to pen another amazing novel with Abraham's Well. In her trademark style – rich language that makes you want to read passages again and again and descriptions that take you back two hundred years – Foster creates an engaging story that not only pulls on every one of your heart strings, but will have you talking out loud to the characters.  Abraham's Well is hard to put down.  Definitely, one of the best reads of the year!"
--Victoria Christopher Murray

"Abraham's Well  is a fascinating glimpse into forgotten corners of American history, which we would do well to remember. Throughout the novel, Sharon Ewell Foster's words flow effortlessly across the landscape of the reader's mind, painting vivid pictures that educate, entertain, delight, horrify, and in the end, offer the kind of hope and comfort we can only receive from the hands of a master storyteller."
--Athol Dickson, author of River Rising

"Abraham's Well  is a special story, as it tells the complex story of the life of a black family immersed into Indian culture, language and history. This is the story that follows a black Indian family slaves of the Cherokees. It is the story of a family that endured the pain of the Trail of Tears, and cried their own tears, and later saw the new nation emerge in Indian Territory while still in bondage.  
 
Abraham's Well is a poignant story where the reader sees the complexity of life not only for the slaves, but also for the Indians who enslaved them.  The effects of the Trail of Tears, the effects of slavery and the effects of the Civil War are all evident in this well-told story.  The reader will long remember Abraham's Well and will be touched as the family was touched as they encountered Ketoowah's Son."
--Angela Y. Walton-Raji

Reviews for Abraham's Well

"Foster (Passing By Samaria; Ain't No Valley; etc.) returns to historical fiction with this innovative and intriguing novel set in mid-19th-century America. ...A fascinating 'note from the author' discusses Foster's own Indian heritage, and provocatively suggests that black people have sometimes claimed Indian lineage in order to distance themselves from their African-American identity. This is the rare historical novel that both entertains and educates." - --Publishers Weekly