When Harold Loomis arrives at a black Pittsburgh boardinghouse in 1911 after seven years' labor on Joe Turner's chain gang, he is a free man?in body. But the scars of his enslavement and a sense of inescapable alienation oppress his spirit still, and the seemingly hospitable rooming house seethes with tension and distrust in the presence of this tormented stranger. Loomis is looking for the wife he left behind, believing she can help him reclaim his old identity. But through his encounters with the other residents he begins to realize that what he really seeks is his rightful place in a new world. Shipped the next day 6/27/24