"Thomas Jefferson, Rachel & Me" Chapter 1

"Can't sleep! TJ, Rachel & Me has taken over my body & mind like no book before. Will it be a movie? Thanks for this work." — Roma Prindle, July 17, 2012.

Thank you, Roma, whoever you are.

TJRM is a literary niche book not a genre book — but quite a few readers enjoy it as much as Roma.

It has a 4.8 rating on Amazon from 16 reviews and a 4.0 on Goodreads based on 28 wide-ranging readers.

HERE's the pitch:

What if Thomas Jefferson returned to life, penniless, powerless, and without a single slave? What if he meets a beautiful mixed-race woman he takes to be Sally Hemings reborn?

What if he lands in a psycho ward or meets the President — at an Independence Day citizenship ceremony at his own hilltop home, Monticello, no less?

"Thomas Jefferson, Rachel & Me" is a tale told by retired history teacher, Jack Arrowsmith, a man numbed by the deaths of his wife and son. It's about his — and his late son's girlfriend, Rachel Carter's — adventures with the writer of the Declaration of Independence.

They meet the ghost of Jefferson at Monticello and, fighting off their panic, agree to take him off to see America.

A history grad student at Columbia, Rachel knows secrets about Jack's son and wife that she decides Jack must know. They will turn his world upside down, just as Rachel's world will be changed forever by her evolving relationship with Jefferson.

Dazzled by Rachel, Jefferson regains the vigor of his prime as the trio travels together. But what then?

For all its fast pace and humor, "Thomas Jefferson, Rachel & Me" is a story about hauntings and history. It's about love and friendship, grief and loss, family secrets and America's own denial of its past.