I later read the book on which this plaque was based, an oral history called To Shoot Hard Labour (1986) by Fernando C. Smith and Keithlyn B. Smith. The book records the life of Samuel Smith, who was born in Antigua in 1877 and died in 1982. Smith recalls his great-great-grandmother, Mother Rachael, who walked across Antigua after slavery ended to be reunited with one of her daughters. The true story of Mother Rachael inspired the journey of Rachel in this novel.
