A novel of slavery published in 1856, written after the great success of Uncle Tom's Cabin. Set mainly in North Carolina, it follows plantation families, enslaved people and a fugitive who lives in the Great Dismal Swamp and is known as Dred. Stowe explores how law, religion and prejudice support slavery, and how different people respond to its injustice, from patient endurance to angry resistance. It is looser in structure than her first famous book, but it shows her wish to examine the whole society built around slavery.