Author(s): Chris Bohjalian

Fiction

A stunning novel from the author of Midwives about a young boy trying to fit into a fractured family and the legacy of the Civil War's buffalo soldiers... A raging river in a small Vermont town overflows and sweeps the nine-year-old daughters of Laura and Terry Sheldon to their deaths. In the aftermath of this life-altering tragedy, Laura convinces Terry to take in a foster child. Young Alfred is a 10-year-old African-American boy whose life to date has been a string of foster families and homes. He cautiously enters the Sheldon family circle, barely willing to hope that he can find a permanent home. Across the street from the Sheldons live an older couple, who take Alfred under their wings as surrogate grandparents, and it is they who introduce him to the history of the buffalo soldiers, African-American cavalry troopers whose reputation for bravery and honour inspires the child. From these fitful lives emerges a lyrical and richly textured story, one that explores the meaning of marriage, the bonds between parents and children, and the relationships that cause a community to become a family.