Chantley Armstrong, a white woman raised in an ashram in India, and Sam Johnson, a proud young black man, come across each other in Boulder, Colorado. The intense feelings aroused by the chance encounter suggest that they share a relationship from previous lives. Once sheltered but now on her own, Chantley struggles to adapt and gain courage, while Sam, deeply intellectual, strives to find his center. Discovering that they may have been lovers at a plantation in South Carolina during the antebellum period, they journey through the South, visiting places and people connected to America’s troubled past and uncertain present. As they fall deeper in love, their travel exposes conflicts whose origins neither is able to explain. They locate their plantation near Charleston, South Carolina, but its exploration reveals a shocking truth about the real nature of their relationship—one that makes them question who they are, their deep-seated beliefs and the meaning of love.

Mohan Ashtakala is an initiated Hindu Vaishnava priest and has lived in yoga ashrams across India. His goal is to expose the authentic narratives of the Yoga tradition through the medium of modern, page-turning novels. Mohan lives in Calgary, Canada with his wife Anuradha, son Hrishi, daughter Gopi, and Lila, the family’s Boston Terrier. He can sometimes be spotted absent-mindedly chanting mantras in the city’s parks.t.

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This story has it all -- fantasy, adventure, spirituality, and romance. Ashtakala writes with extraordinary attention to the details of the yoga tradition, in a way the reader can easily understand and appreciate. Jack, Steve, and the people they encounter in their journeys are characters that will stay with you for a long, long time.

Brandy Kaine