Short-listed for the Orange Award for New Writers & long-listed for the Orange Prize It is 1917 in the South Dakota Badlands & summer has been hard. Fourteen years have passed since Rachel & Isaac Du Pree left Chicago to stake a claim in this unforgiving l&. Isaac a former Buffalo Soldier is fiercely proud: black families are rare in the West & black ranchers even rarer. But it hasnt rained in months the cattle bellow with thirst & supplies are dwindling. Pregnant & struggling to feed her family Rachel is isolated by more than just geography. She is determined to give her surviving children the life they deserve but she knows that her husband will never leave his ranch. Moving & majestic The Personal History of Rachel Du Pree is an unforgettable novel about love & loyalty homeland & belonging. Above all it is the story of one womans courage in the face of the most punishing adversity.