In 1847, Samantha waits tables and serves grog at Logan’s Tavern in Campbeltown, Scotland. She joins the love of her life, the local Presbyterian minister, on an ill-fated voyage. The Reverend Charles Stuart is forced into exile (because of his zealous passion for the poor) and placed on an overloaded sailing ship to Wilmington, North Carolina. The ship barely survives the storm of the decade and runs aground near Kilmarnock, Virginia. Samantha and Charles join the efforts of the Underground Railroad. They live under the threat of death by hanging from plantation owners and their hired assassins.
Inspired by Samantha, a great-granddaughter and a minister, who is a descendant of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings, uncover a conspiracy near Charlottesville, Virginia, that threatens democracy in the United States of America in the twenty-first century.
About the author
David Brown Howell is a retired licensed professional counselor in Virginia. He is a consultant to Luther Seminary and the former associate director of preaching resources at Luther Seminary. He is the founder, publisher, and editor of Lectionary Homiletics and Good Preacher.com, and the founder of the Festival of Homiletics. He is the author of Tethered to an Appalachian Curse and Buried Dreamer. He has been interviewed by the New York Times and Time Magazine for his views on religion in America.