Author Description

When his parents' bitter arguments threaten to tear the family apart, young Robert Ward seeks sanctuary with his compassionate grandmother, Grace. But Robert soon learns that his grandmother, a social activist, intellectual, and church woman, harbors deep troubles of her own. Terrifying "spells" in the middle of the night threaten her sanity, and she seems to be abandoning the causes of social justice that have long made her a pillar of the community. Worried that his family is starting to disintegrate, Robert sets out to find the source of his grandmother's pain. Little by little he uncovers the secret that forever changed Grace's life - her friendship with, and betrayal of, a black man named Wingate Washington. And Robert also comes to understand Grace's undying love for his grandfather, Robert "Cap" Ward, a freighter captain, a union activist, an alcoholic - and a surprisingly complex man.