ABOUT
THE BOOK

The Boston Globe calls Frederick Buechner “one of [America’s] finest writers.” USA Today says he’s “one of [America’s] most original storytellers.” Now this acclaimed author gives us his most beguiling novel yet – a magical tale of love, betrayal, and redemption inspired by Shakepeare’s The Tempest. On a wealthy Plantation Island in South Florida, an old man waits. Kenzie Maxwell is a writer, a raconteur, a rascal, an altruist, a mystic -a charismatic figure who enjoys life wth his rich third wife but muses daily on the sins of his past. Two decades ago, Kenzie had to leave New York because of a scandal. He’d been a volunteer at a runaway shelter, and he’d fallen deeply in love with a seventeen-year-old girl – a girl who died while giving birth to Kenzie’s daughter. His older brother, Dalton, a lawyer and board member at the shelter, decided to quell rumours by releasing Kenzie’s note of apology to the press. Kenzie’s reputation – and the girl’s – were destroyed. He has never forgiven his brother. Now it’s the eve of Kenzie’s seventieth birthday, and a storm is brewing. His beloved daughter, Bree – the child of the scandal – is coming down from New York for his birthday party. But his brother Dalton is coming down too, to do some legal work for the island’s ill-tempered matriarch. Aided and abetted by Dalton’s happy-go-lucky stepson, a loutish gardener, a New Age windsurfer, a bumbling bishop, and a bona fida tempest, Kenzie must somehow contrive to reconcile with his brother – and make peace with his past.