Dennis Ferguson, a widower and retiring salesman of men’s clothes, has trouble adjusting to his new life — and to the post-truth state of the US. While reading in the park, he befriends Nasrin Kirmani, an Iranian refugee, and her son Arvin, and his life takes on new meaning. When the Kirmanis disappear, Dennis is forced to question himself, and the choices he has made. What could reasonably be expected of him — as an individual, a citizen, and a man?

Ferguson is a novel about personal choice, losing your freedom, and what happens to the moral fabric of a society when elected leaders only care for themselves. It is set in the Midwest in a time resembling our own, but its message is timeless.