title: The Drum Symbol
author: Johnson, Alexis P.
description: I am my own dancing master. Kalila has never met her father-the dashing Irish mariner who stole her mother's heart and never returned it. Daydreaming through her mundane youth as a housekeeper in Beirut, Kalila's reality shatters when her cruel master imposes an arranged marriage. To escape her unwelcome fate, she must embark on the greatest quest of her life-to find the man she has only seen in her dreams. It is 1853, and Ireland has been ravaged by the Great Famine and social unrest when Kalila touches its shores. The journey is abundant with colorful characters, romantic encounters, and the clashing of two proud cultures equally rooted in song and dance. Though it seems an emerald horizon of possibility lies ahead for Kalila, the consequences of the past may be following just behind.