About

Can you imagine being stolen away from your family? And being sold?

Mary Anne lives as an enslaved girl with her family on a Mississippi plantation until a fateful day in late spring. When she and her best friend race, laughing, down the lane, they have no way to know about the danger around the bend: ruthless traders seeking to steal slaves. The traders drag the girls into a terrifying world of human transport and sale that challenges them in ways they never expected. From the slave markets of New Orleans, to a perilous ship passage, to life away from their families, Mary Anne and Lizzie find new sources of strength within themselves and from other members of the slave community.

LET MY SOUL FLY is a novel inspired by actual events experienced by enslaved Americans, as told to Works Progress Administration interviewers during the 1930s. The book is designed to be accessible to children, but is complex enough to satisfy the adult fan of historical fiction. The novel includes an appendix of detailed chapter notes that put Mary Anne and Lizzie’s experiences into historical context, as well as chapter-by-chapter discussion questions for classes or reading groups.

Lance A. Cooper lives in Denton, Texas, where he divides his time between writing fiction, researching about historical events, and practicing law.