The buffalo soldier - Christopher A Bohjalian

With his trademark emotional heft and storytelling skill, bestselling author Chris
Bohjalian presents a resonant novel about the unconventional family that forms after Terry and Laura Sheldon, a Vermont storm trooper and his wife grieving the loss of their twin daughters, take in a foster child.

His name is Alfred; he is ten years old and
African American. And he has passed through so many indifferent families that he
can't believe that his new one will last.

In the ensuing months Terry and Laura
will struggle to emerge from their shell of grief only to face an unexpected threat
to their marriage; Terry's involvement with another woman. Meanwhile, Alfred cautiously
enters the family circle, and befriends an elderly neighbor who inspires him with
the story of the buffalo soldiers, the black cavalrymen of the old West. Out of the
entwining and unfolding of their lives, The Buffalo Soldier creates a suspenseful,
moving portrait of a family, infused by Bohjalian's moral complexity and narrative
assurance.