The curious one.
A museum worker whose love of history is about to take him far beyond the display cases.
THE NOVEL BY NORMAN VOSS
A Touchpoint
in Time
The past has unfinished business.
Ben Harris spends his days surrounded by history at a Fredericksburg museum. Then the town’s Civil War past begins to reach into his own life. With Clara beside him, the familiar streets become a world of secrets, danger and connections across time.
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ABOUT THE NOVEL
History is his passion.
Then it finds him.
For Ben Harris, the past is something to study, preserve and wonder about. His work at a Fredericksburg museum puts him among the objects and stories of other lives.
But when his own surroundings begin to shift, curiosity is no longer enough. With Clara and Stuart drawn into the mystery, the town he knows becomes a place where history, danger and personal connection meet.
Historical suspense with a crossing through time. This introduction reflects the earlier manuscript available for the concept.
The connection.
Ben’s intelligent, intriguing colleague—and someone who matters to him beyond their work.
The steady voice.
An older museum colleague whose perspective helps Ben find his footing.
THE WORLD OF THE NOVEL
One town.
More than one time.
Familiar streets, hidden connections and a past that feels dangerously close.
Fredericksburg, reimagined.
The town becomes the setting for an encounter between the present and the Civil War past.
History within reach.
Ben’s museum work begins with the objects and stories that another generation left behind.
A connection across time.
Ben and Clara face a world where the boundaries of an ordinary life begin to shift.
AI-generated concept artwork. The synopsis is adapted from an earlier draft and will be replaced with the final book description.
ROOTED IN FREDERICKSBURG
A real town.
An imagined crossing.
Streets, old houses and a museum become part of the story. Choose a place to see its connection.
THE OPENING · CHAPTER 2
Where curiosity becomes personal.
Ben works at the Fredericksburg Area Museum. In the draft’s opening chapters, he is packing away a St. George’s Church display when an old Bible sets him wondering about the people who made it. History is already part of his daily life, long before the past begins to intrude.
A real Fredericksburg institution appears in a fictional story. Its characters and events are part of the novel.THE OPENING · CHAPTERS 3–4
A familiar corner. An unfamiliar time.
After a confrontation during an evening out, Ben escapes into the streets and a courtyard near Charles Street. The familiar route becomes the edge of something he cannot explain—bringing the story’s mystery into the walkable fabric of downtown.
Place references are drawn from the earlier manuscript; the scene is fiction.THE OPENING · CHAPTER 1
If these walls could talk.
The first chapter brings a young visitor to Howard’s house on Prince Edward Street. An ordinary conversation about an old home takes an unsettling turn. That encounter introduces one of the book’s central questions: how much of the past remains in the places around us?
Howard and the encounter are fictional. No specific private home is identified here.A TOUCHPOINT IN TIMENORMAN VOSS
A View to the Past
“Wow”, the young man replies, “if these walls could talk”. “Oh, they do” Howard quickly replies, “and they listen also”.
The young man has a perplexed look on his face, but decides this old man is just trying to be funny. “What do you mean?” he finally responds.
Howard starts, “you see this house was here during the Civil War. It’s been said that General Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson came to this house to have dinner here while in town.” “Wow, that’s pretty cool” the young man responds. “Yeah….pretty cool” Howard says dryly, sort of making fun of how the young man responded. The young man waits for Howard to continue, so there is a moment of silence in which all that is heard is a very old clock ticking on the mantle over the fireplace.
Howard then looks past the young man, as if he sees something over his shoulder. So much so that the young man turns around to look. “Did you see a ghost” the young man finally says with a laugh.
“There have also been some terrible things happen in this house” Howard says, “many wounded soldiers lay on these floors, slowly dying from their wounds in battles and skirmishes fought near here. The smell of blood, guts, and death was almost unbearable. All the while men were stealing food and blankets from other men. It was a hell on earth.”
“That’s terrible” the young man nervously cuts in, “where did you read about this?
“Read about it??” Howard responds, “I was there!”
End of preview
THE NOVEL · COMING SOON
Be there for the next chapter.
Release details and ordering information will appear here when they’re available.