When Sounds Collide: A Novel

Custis—a gifted, Black, ten-year-old boy orphaned and left for dead—is discovered by a young White girl. Sarah Tennison hasn’t spoken a word since her mother died. Nursed back to health and raised by Sarah’s widowed father, Custis is sheltered from community biases and anti-literacy laws. In the safety of the Tennison home, his bright mind has room to flourish and he strives to advance to his potential. Along the way, Custis' curiosity and quiet compassion help Sarah find her voice. Sarah and Custis develop an unbreakable bond, but intolerance and bigotry prohibit marriage.

To pursue his education, Custis must leave the repression of the South. He sets his sights on the esteemed universities of New York City, where he dreams of working in cutting-edge science labs to develop a revolutionary medical device. Custis has the stuff for success, but New York City isn’t as enlightened as it may seem. Custis assumes a false identity to navigate the exclusionary culture of higher education. With the help of some unlikely friends, Custis learns to traverse a society that feels like a world away from the ranch in North Carolina. Life moves on back home, with forces threatening to keep Custis and Sarah apart forever.

At the heart of this deeply drawn saga is the power of love to inspire greatness in us all. Custis—a fictional representation of history’s many unsung heroes—chases his goals with compelling determination, driven by his romantic vision of a brighter future.