Stranger Among Us, A

In a sprawling, kaleidoscopic tale of love, revenge, and hope, A Stranger Among Us tells the story of finding redemption and grace amid suffering. Hack, a young black boy and son of a poor groundskeeper of a Benedictine monastery, has an uncanny desire to seek and know truth. As he and his father, Percy, face the brutality of poverty and racism in the 1920s South, Percy teaches Hack about virtues and goodness, while evil abounds in the world around them. One fateful evening as Hack accompanies Percy to the monastery, tragedy strikes, thrusting Hack on a winding path that will forever alter his life and soul. As Percy attempts to save a young woman from being attacked, both Percy and the woman are killed. Percy is framed for the woman’s murder, making the attacker a local hero as corrupt policemen begin searching for young Hack, said to be an accomplice in the vicious killings. The monks hide Hack, giving him sanctuary from authorities. In the safety of the monastery, Hack receives his education from the monks, satisfying his curious mind with lessons on Philosophy, Theology, and friendship. But the more Hack learns, the more he seeks that deeper truth only found in grace. Spanning the tumultuous decades from The Roaring Twenties to World War II and beyond, Hack’s unlikely education takes him on a Dante-esque journey through the intricately woven lives of those around him. Told in luminous, poetic prose, it is a story of love and hate, of courage and betrayal, of good overcoming evil. Delving into humanity’s darkest corners, A Stranger Among Us holds a mirror to America’s addled past, revealing God’s unending grace and love in us all.