In the heart of Springfield, Illinois, just steps from Abraham Lincoln’s home, a secret revolution is brewing beneath bonnets and behind barn doors.

Under the pen name A. North Star, an anonymous abolitionist column stirs unrest across Springfield, the words igniting whispered debates and silent threats. No one knows who the writer is, but everyone feels the ripple effect.

Abigail Harrison is a reserved, intelligent, and often overlooked woman who lives under the weight of her mother’s expectations and her younger sister’s sparkle. But Abigail sees what others ignore. Though she dreams of studying law, the doors are closed to women. Still, she reads legal texts in secret, questions what others accept, and quietly watches political debates. A surprising new role opens for her when she finds out that her childhood friend Jonas, along with her aunt and uncle, are secretly assisting freedom seekers using their barn as part of the Underground Railroad.

But Springfield is a city of watchers and whisperers, and one well-placed accusation by a conniving socialite threatens to destroy everything, including the fragile bond between Abigail and the man she’s only just begun to truly see.