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Two half brothers, Nathan and Jonathan, unaware of their true relationship, have developed a strong mutual respect, forming an alliance that will lead them to secret places, hidden facts, and a chance to forgive. In their old age, the two enjoy extended family ties and recollections of their shared past as the story opens. The families are of mixed race and color, elements that play a serious role in their history. Flashing back to the brothers' resolve to start a successful venture years before, we see them in rural Louisiana, where fateful events lead to contact with missing members of their clan. A young woman who was abducted long ago offers clues. Nathan and Jonathan will realize that slavery in the South did not end, as is often assumed, with the Emancipation Proclamation, but reared its cruel specter in many covert ways. As the brothers mature, they will become loving patriarchs and benefactors for African Americans held back by poverty and prejudice.
Author Johnson is an experienced school counselor whose writing also includes poetic works. She offers this story's widely twisting and turning plot lines to illustrate how our human nature can bring us to revelations if we are willing to follow the cues that life lays in our path. Her book has been created almost entirely in dialogue among its many dynamic characters, allowing her to demonstrate her feeling for the rich vernacular and streetwise talk of some of them as well as the erudite observations—religious, legal, scientific—among others. Through this medium, too, she is able to display a vibrant sense of humor, especially seen as younger family members tease their elders, and the elders respond in good spirits. Her book provides inspirational moments interwoven in a sometimes eerie, ultimately triumphant family saga.