That Dazzling Sun

In this second book, Rachel Bringhouse, the tinsmith's daughter and Isaac's tutor, sails off to England to work alongside the famous social activist and poet, Hannah Moore. Rachel writes enthusiastic letters to Isaac, which Isaac answers back with assistance from the irrepressibly poetic cook's helper, Ovid. Meanwhile, Billey Gardner, the feisty and opportunistic former slave of James Madison, pesters Isaac with notions of a business partnership; the charismatic Dr. Cornelius Sharp uses Isaac to confront Jefferson as a debt-ridden slave owner; and the Reverend Richard Allen provides Isaac with a most surprising document. When an exuberant Rachel returns from England with a key insight and Isaac's hated nemesis Daniel Shady reappears, bent on revenge, the book rises to its crescendo, in which Isaac must rise to his own power and bargain at last with Thomas Jefferson on his own terms.

Lawrence Reid Bechtel is a novelist and sculptor with a special interest in early American history, including the Federal Era following the Revolutionary War.