The Royall House & Slave Quarters welcomes Rachel May for a talk about her new book,  “An American Quilt: Unfolding a Story of Family and Slavery,” which is due out on May 1, 2018.

May’s book explores the far reach of slavery, from New England to the Caribbean, the role it played in the growth of mercantile America, and the bonds between the agrarian south and the industrial north in the antebellum era — all through the discovery of a remarkable quilt.

May is the author of “Quilting with a Modern Slate,” a 2014 Library Journal and Amazon.com Best Book of the Year. Her writing has received multiple awards, and she’s been awarded residencies at the Millay Colony and the Vermont Studio Center. She’s an assistant professor at Northern Michigan University and lives in Marquette, Michigan.

Free admission for RH&SQ members; general admission is $10.