In St. Adrienne, a small black community in Louisiana, Reverend Phillip Martin--a respected minister and civil rights leader--comes face to face with the sins of his youth in the person of Robert X, a young, unkempt stranger who arrives in town for a mysterious "meeting" with the Reverend.

In the confrontation between the two, the young man's secret burden explodes into the open, and Phillip Martin begins a long-neglected journey into his youth to discover how destructive his former life was, for himself and for those around him.

"...on every page there's an authentic moment, or a dead-right knot of conversation, or a truer-than-true turn of phrase..."--Kirkus Reviews