On her fifth birthday, Neeley McPherson accidentally killed her parents. Thrown into the care of her scheming and alcoholic grandfather, she survives by her quick wit and the watchful eye of an elderly black man, Gideon. In 1959, as equal rights heats up in the South, authorities accuse Gideon of stealing a watch and using a Whites Only restroom. Neeley, now thirteen, determines to break him out of jail.
When the infamous Catfish Cole, Ku Klux Klan Grand Dragon of the Carolinas, discovers their courageous escape, he pursues Neeley and Gideon into the frozen Blue Ridge Mountains to a wolf sanctuary. There, Neeley crosses the bridge between the real and the supernatural. Giving sanctuary, the healing power of second chances, and overcoming prejudice entwines, leading Neeley to tragedy once again but also the desire of her heart.
The Sanctum is a coming-of-age Southern tale dusted with magic and set in a volatile time in America when the winds of change begin to blow.
