<div><p>Born a slave in 1847 but raised as a free man by the Reverend William King, David has rebelled against his emancipator and a future in the church. Now he's a God-cursing, liquor-slinging, money-having, Hobbes-quoting man-about-town, famously educated, fabulously eccentric, and more-or-less happy . . . till the death of Reverend King brings his past back to haunt him.</P> <p>Inspired by the Elgin Settlement, which by 1852 housed seventy-five free black families and was studied by Abraham Lincoln, Ray Robertson's novel is a fiery look at a community essential to the Underground Railroad's success.</P> <p><B>Ray Robertson</B> is the author of <I>Why Not? Fifteen Reasons to Live</I>.</P><BR></DIV>