BEFORE WE ARRIVED

 

Three families. Seven goats. One spinning world.

 

In the summer of 2005 we meet Henry Carter, a Black landscape designer who has been mired in a dismal fog since a family tragedy. He needs to find the missing pieces of his shattered self and reluctantly accepts a job working with rescued farm animals.

 

Rivka Solomon, a restless Jewish social worker, runs the animal sanctuary and has her own trauma-filled history. She plows through life taking care of everyone around her while longing for safety and solace for herself.

 

Enter Jayce King, an Indigenous American archaeologist who has endured numerous losses and is determined to navigate each day without disturbing the status quo. He remains guarded, knowing he cannot bear another catastrophe.

 

As each struggles to emerge from a painful past, we follow their intersecting journeys in New England to the Finger Lakes, New York City, Eastern Canada, and war-torn Vietnam. Through interwoven narratives of grief and resilience, Before We Arrived explores the power of ancestral bonds, unexpected connections, and the quest to find joy in a broken world. This novel is infused with love in all its forms and celebrates the strength of the human spirit.