In 1542, a young Chumash woman named Singing Bird watches in awe as the enormous ships of Juan Cabrillo arrive off the coast. They carry men with strange weapons, heavy clothing, and unknowable intentions. She finds herself drawn to one of them-Santiago-who seems different from the rest. When she is kidnapped, he befriends her, and their connection deepens. But when the voyage meets disaster and Santiago is lost in a storm, Singing Bird is blamed. Now she must find a way to escape-or die trying.
Four centuries later, in the fall of 1929, the stock market crashes and seventeen-year-old Kate Thompson is forced from her home. She and her friend Andrew end up on San Miguel Island, posing as a married couple while working on an archaeological dig. When artifacts begin to vanish, Andrew is accused of theft-and Kate must find a way to trap the real thief, or risk losing the boy she has come to love.
A Stranger From Afar interweaves the stories of Cabrillo's 1542 expedition and the crash of 1929, as two courageous young women-separated by centuries-discover their inner strength and fight for those they love.
