His career derailed by the Great Recession, Romulus is lucky to land a community-college teaching job. There he meets young, African-American, Bobby Lewson. Hoping to inspire his student, Rom introduces Bobby to the true story of Robert Smalls, the South Carolina slave who stole a Confederate warship, became a Union Civil War captain, fought his way to Congress, and became the reputed King of Beaufort County, South Carolina. But when Bobby Lewson takes Rom's troubled niece as his lover, Rom's historical novel about Robert Smalls veers out to sea. Rom finds himself exploring America's racial history, his unexpected racial heritage, and the racism he never saw in himself. The journey takes him places he never imagined- even to the most-stolen work of art in history.