Spanning over a century, The Weight of Light: A Novel of Redemption illuminates the lives of three very different women as the world changes around them. At fifteen, part black, part Native American, all southern Bess Sutton has no idea what the world is like when she runs away from home with Tommy. But Tommy's abusive ways lead to the loss of the farm which Bess's grandparents acquired in 1863, twelve years after her grandmother purchased her grandfather. But the story doesn't begin with Bess. Bess's story begins with her grandmother Emma, a young slave in South Carolina in 1838. Emma's story takes her north, to the promise of freedom. It is Emma's son and daughter-in-law who eventually adopt Bess and bring her into their loving family while working the land their parents had fought for.