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A Savannah native approaching retirement from a medical career returns home to write his sabbatical book. An encounter with Mae, a mysterious Gullah woman, takes him into magical adventures covering almost 3 centuries based in the landmarks of his hometown. The sights, sounds, history, and smells of Savannah are irresistible, and qualify the town as a full-fledged character in this story. He ventures to partake of some of Mae’s root doctor tea and is propelled into dreamscapes that blur time and reality. During one of these walkabouts he meets Mary, the biracial healer sitting at a campfire outside the downtown hotel serving as a hospital for Sherman’s troops in 1864. When he is forced to participate in the horrors of unnecessary amputations inside, Mary leads him to an understanding of her particular blend of healing. She is a product of the hoodoo system brought from west Africa that flourished in the coastal islands’ Gullah settlements while she also incorporates Indigenous American skills using the Great Spirit’s natural gifts.
The apparent urgency to save the soldiers inside the hotel turned hospital causes this doctor to question everything about the European tradition of healing which has molded him into a modern practitioner. This leads to an internal journey seeking forgiveness for perceived missed opportunities with his patients. He wanders among stories from practice and teenage experiences that formed him prior to medical training, and finally Mary provides the needed direction. His traditional training as a family doctor might qualify him as a hoodoo doctor and his Catholic upbringing provides the needed convergence for these two colleagues to connect on a spiritual level. Their collaboration starts slowly and builds to a surprising climax with the intertwining of all 3 healing traditions. Ultimately, this journey provides some sense of closure for the unfinished business hidden within this modern hoodoo practitioner.
