A Stranger Among Us

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.

ENDORSEMENTS

“A Stranger Among Us takes us into the dark heart of the Deep South and leads us towards the Sacred Heart that penetrates all darkness. It shows us, as all great novels must, that the battle between good and evil takes place in society because it takes place in each individual human heart. It takes us into the scarred and broken hearts of the characters. It shows us the civil war raging in their hearts and the very uncivil consequences of such raging. It weaves faith with reason, philosophy with religion, and the sanity of sanctity with the insanity of sin. It is well-written, well woven and well worth reading.”
— Joseph Pearce, author of Race with the Devil: My Journey from Racial Hatred to Rational Love

“A magnificent debut. Like a theological tightrope walker on a long and daring path, Gallagher balances worldly action and contemplative depth. The prose is sure-footed, poised, and agile. A Stranger Among Us marks the coming of a true novelist, and his powers are abundant.”
— Lee Oser, author of Old Enemies and The Oracles Fell Silent

“The great American storyteller, Flannery O’Connor, once wrote of her native region: ‘While the South is hardly Christ-centered, it is most certainly Christ-haunted.’ Conor Gallagher’s tale, set in a small town in North Carolina around the time O’Connor was born, paints a wise and vivid portrait of that Christ-haunted culture. Amid the clash of black and white, rich and poor, Catholic monks and powerful Klansmen, a black orphan boy must find the path of courage, wisdom, and grace. Along that way of sorrow, Christ Himself walks again and shines His light in the darkness.”
— Paul Thigpen, author of The Life of Saint Joseph as Seen by the Mystics