The authors each contribute multiple chapters to this short book. Gray describes being given up for adoption as a child and how he began the long process of seeking out his birth mother, only to be turned away when he attempted to meet her. Her rejection led him to Ward-Kaiser, who had adopted a child and became, in interesting ways, a surrogate mother for Gray. Through her mentorship, he eventually reconciles with his mother and family. In her portion of the book, Ward-Kaiser recounts the harrowing events of the morning of June 14, 1991, when several teenagers broke into her home and held her family at gunpoint. Her daughter was raped, and her husband was murdered. Ward-Kaiser went on to marry an investigating officer involved in the case and, remarkably, became an advocate for the imprisoned killers.

The most riveting chapters of the book belong to Ward-Kaiser, who narrates the invasion of her home and the death of her husband vividly but without judgment. More moving still is the aftermath of that night, in which she seeks restorative justice for those who destroyed her family. She is a credit to her faith. Her example offers a path out of the dark thicket of revenge that consumes our culture, where “forgiveness” is spoken only with derision. Gray’s chapters are more meandering as he recalls events such as a friend’s heart transplant and the time he was given free tickets to the World Series with VIP parking. However, his poignant account of pursuing his mother is, ultimately, redemptive. Her initial dismissal will likely provoke a twinge of sympathetic recognition for anyone who has ever been rejected by a parent. This is a wise book, authentic and suffused with compassion.

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