WINNER OF THE ATWOOD GIBSON WRITERS' TRUST FICTION PRIZE 2023
SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2023 AMAZON CANADA FIRST NOVEL AWARD
COSMOPOLITAN'S 10 BEST HISTORICAL FICTION BOOKS OF 2023

'Fresh and propulsive . . . a veneration of those whose tales are often forgotten' New York Times

'A mesmerizing, lyrical testament to the power of storytelling' Atwood Gibson Writer's Trust Fiction Prize judges

Freedom, you can't get and bury, and keep it and keep it so it won't ever go away.
No, child.
You got to swing your freedom like a club.

In 1859, deep in the forests of Canada, an elderly woman sits behind bars. She came to Dunmore via the Underground Railroad to escape enslavement, but an American bounty hunter tracked her down. Now she's in jail for killing him, and the fragile peace of Dunmore, a town settled by people fleeing the American south, hangs by a thread.

Lensinda Martin, a smart young reporter, wants to gather the woman's testimony before she can be condemned, but the old woman has no time for confessions. Instead she proposes a barter: a story for a story.

As the women swap stories - of family and first loves, of survival and freedom against all odds - Lensinda must face her past. And it seems the old woman may carry a secret that could shape Lensinda's destiny.

Travelling along the path of the Underground Railroad from the American South to British Canada, from the Indigenous nations around the Great Lakes, to the Black refugee communities of Canada, In the Upper Country is an unforgettable debut about the interwoven history of peoples in North America, slavery and resistance, and two women reckoning with the stories they've been given, and the ones they want to tell.

"The harshly real and the fantastic mingle in ways that recall Ta-Nehisi Coates's The Water Dancer and Esi Edugyan's Washington Black. What's most impressive is Thomas's imaginative power; sure-handed, often lyrical prose; and strong, complex, resilient women. An exceptional work that mines a rich historical vein" - Kirkus, starred review

"Mesmerizing . . . at once intimate and majestic, Thomas's ambitious work heralds a bright new voice" - Publishers Weekly, starred review

"The old woman will tell her story, if Lensinda shares one of her own. Thus begins an incredible exchange that reveals an interconnected history of love and survival for the Black and Indigenous peoples of North America." - Book Riot

"A Gothic-tinged puzzle box of a novel . . . there's undeniable force to the embedded stories and the historical truths they bring to vivid life" - Toronto Star

"Groundbreaking . . . This fascinating series of stories within stories reflects the fragmentary history of African and Indigenous people experiencing the effects of enslavement. Engrossing and intensely readable, this book represents just the beginning of a larger narrative, with many chapters yet to be told; very highly recommended" - Library Journal