Somebody's Knocking at My Door

March 1, 2003
Kristen Wakefield has lived off and on in New Orleans for the last seven years. As an art lover, she is driven to build, at the Haywood Museum, the premier collection of nineteenth-century African American art. After months of coordination, Kristen finally schedules a meeting with the influential Claudette Thibodeaux. Kristen is dismayed when Claudette is unable to meet, and her career aspirations dissolve before her eyes. Rather than give up the career she loves, Kristen accepts her predicament and chooses to stick it out in New Orleans. In her times of desperation, Rafe Crawford instinctively assumes the role of protector. He quickly becomes more than a distant in-law. He is struggling with his own anger over the years of physical and emotional abuse he received from his father. Yet, when he learns of his dying father's wish to see him, Rafe is confused and unsure of his true feelings about his past and his hopes for the future. All of the characters are woven into a compelling story about family, love, and relationships.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2003, American Library Association.)