STARLIGHT PASSAGE by Anita Richmond Bunkley sweeps across 5 generations and explores the dreams and desires that are shared by men and women of every heritage.
Kiana Sheridan is a bright and attractive young woman with a single-minded purpose: to uncover the mysteries of her African- American heritage while in simultaneous pursuit of her Ph.D in history. When she leaves behind her comfortable high-school teaching job, her dead-end relationship to an unambitious Gulf War vet, and her entire former life in Houston, Kiana doesn't look back. Once in Washington, D.C., she begins recovering her family history by first learning all she can about her great-great grandfather, an escaped slave and the talented glass artist whose work has only recently become the enthusiastic focus of collectors. But there are obstacles standing between Kiana and her doctoral dissertation/pilgrimage. Stepsister Ida, a con artist who was once jailed for credit card fraud, has reasons of her own for interfering with Kiana's goals (sheer greed being the primary motivation). And Kiana's own beloved grandmother Hester seems determined to bury the past forever. With the help of photojournalist Rex Tandy (the handsome, sensitive tour guide of the Underground Railroad Tour Kiana plans to take to launch her research) and a wise, maternal woman named Portia, Kiana eventually uncovers the dramatic truths of her ancestry--and also discovers her true inheritance.
Anita Richmond Bunkley is a native of Columbus, Ohio. She holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Mount Union College, Alliance, Ohio. She currently lives in Houston, Texas with her husband.
May
2007
