Born at the peak of the Civil War in 1863, James Rubin Shepard faced overwhelming tragedy and daunting personal disability in his struggle to rise above his obstacles and persevere. Even so, his intelligence and academic prowess helped him find a way through the difficulties he encountered. Divine Intervention tells the life story of James Shepard, from early childhood through his dreams of becoming a lawyer and entering politics, ambitions that were forestalled when a sudden hearing ailment brought on total deafness. This disability, poorly understood in the late nineteenth century, left him in mental and emotional anguish. As James struggled to quiet the turmoil within his soul, he also searched for a way to reconcile himself to his strange and silent new world and to the fact that he had to leave his lofty dreams behind. This fictionalized memoir shares the remarkable life of James Rubin Shepard, offering a true and inspiring story set in late nineteenth-century America.