By the Breath of Their People

By the Breath of Their People tells the stories of two people who live in the same area of the Delaware River Valley nearly three-hundred years apart.

The first is Walks Alone, a young Lenape who is coming of age in a time when the once-great culture of his people is deteriorating before his eyes. He is told by his teacher that his is a great destiny, but, with all that is going on around him, he cannot see how that's possible. 

The other is Jeff Phillips, a very wealthy contemporary man who is creating a retreat for his family on an expansive tract of land in the hills above the river. He neither knows nor particulalry cares about the history of the ground on which he is building. All of that changes when human remains are discovered on the property during a construction accident. Even though very little about the remains can be determined with certainty, the discovery sets in motion a chain of events that will forever alter the future of the land and the people who inhabit it. 

Masterfully moving between the past and present, Gil Bean's storytelling offers readers glimpses into worlds we may never know. From the peaceful bluffs above the river to the organized chaos of an unusal museum, we are swept along on a ride that we hope will not soon end.

Author Gil Bean was born in Easton, Pennsylvania—where much of By the Breath of Their People is set—and raised in nearby Phillipsburg, New Jersey. After graduating from Bowling Green State University in Ohio, he pursued a career in technology that took him to locations throughout the eastern half of the United States. He eventually returned to the Delaware River Valley, moving to the Philadelphia area in 1995. The father of four grown children, he currently lives in Mays Landing, New Jersey with his wife, Deborah.