Pulaski's Canal — Robert F. Lackey

Ben Pulaski is supposed to be dead. But when he returns to Havre de Grace in 1841, two years after being reported lost at sea, it is not the homecoming he has long dreamed about. His reunion with Sonja and his sons-which kept his hope alive during squalid captive years in China-is replaced by a cruel reality. Ben's return destroys the sense of survival that has sustained Sonja as a widow and mourning mother to a lost infant daughter Ben never knew. Their home is gone, swept away by the Susquehanna ice. Sonja is near destitute and working as a house servant; she is emotionally numb and filled with resentment at Ben's resurrection. Ben is a stranger to his sons and an intruder to his wife. His desire to become a part of their lives again and rebuild a family that has adjusted without him is a challenge he is determined to face. With the help of former shipmates, Ben builds a business on the canal that crosses from the mouth of the Susquehanna over the Mason and Dixon Line into Pennsylvania. Tricked into smuggling escaping slaves across The Line, Ben nearly dies for his efforts, and after missing a crucial deadline with the bank, his family's new home is in jeopardy. Through it all he is haunted by bloody dreams as he fights madness and tries to contain the brutal beast he became in China. Pulaski's Canal is a remarkably engaging story about a man torn by love and murderous rage as he struggles to rebuild his life in the little town at the head of the Chesapeake Bay.