Powerful inspirational American Historical fiction novel:Historical fiction or Alternative history?: Aside from both being authors, what do the lives of Henry W. Longfellow and Mark Twain have in common? The answer is that both of their lives contained terrible tragedies from which they eventually found real hope and spiritual meaning. This novel is about one little sermon and one, even littler poem, and how, fictionally, they may have influenced and given hope to, not only the author of the poem, who happened to be non-other than Henry W. Longfellow, but also his son, Charles and Sam Clemens,(a.k.a. Mark Twain.) whom Charles meets In the forward, the Author, James M. Becher, says this: "I have used the framework of the lives of the Longfellow and Clement families, and have added my own hopes and thoughts as to many other details, including what their true spiritual conditions might have been. I can't say whether I will see any of the Longfellows or Clements in heaven. I can only hope so, and I give you that same hope through this novel." This book can serve as a means of encouragement and hope to those who have suffered loss, or to all of us, who might happen to do so in the future.