In two divergent worlds one hundred years apart, the principal characters forge a lasting mystical relationship that melds their heritage and binds their ideologies, shaping and sustaining the foundation of freedom for the fledgling American nation. Papineau, an eighteenth-century French Canadian trapper, struggles with survival in the untamed wilderness of the Colony of New York, helping to mold the principles that will influences the causes of liberty. Facing his challenges head on, he is drawn into a series of personal complexities of life. His developing relationships with members of the First Nations lead him to spiritual peace, while providing him with the wisdom to face those challenges with steadfast conviction.
A century later, Jon Holland, a young Irish immigrant is unwillingly thrust into the throes of the great American Civil War. The horrors of the conflagration cause him to struggle with his identity, testing his resolve and will to live. His bond with his ancestors fortifies his fervor for freedom and strengthens his personal cause of being. Drawing on the teachings of those who before him, he searches his soul for the answers that will guide him with the intelligence and skill he needs to overcome this adversity.
Don Germain is a recently retired educator of 37 years serving children as a teacher, coach, and administrator in the public school systems of New York State. His passion for writing and the study of history have led him to devote his time in retirement to the authoring of his first novel, Two Suns Rising: The Dawning. However, it is the people he has met through his service to the educational community that have inspired the deep and hidden story behind it.
