Resurgence

Grief over the death of his close friend Rich has left Will Moretti feeling that his days have become hollow routine. While sorting through Rich's belongings, he finds a flyer for a healing center tucked into the mountains of southern Arizona. He decides to take a chance and accepts a job as sous-chef there. On his first full day he meets Suzanne, the poised headmistress of the school. Soon after, a clumsy mishap in a classroom leads to Juan, a flamboyant instructor, drawing a blood sample from his injury and discovering his blood type.

Over the following months, Juan takes his students on several memorable outings to examine how diet has shaped human evolution. Genaro, Juan's partner in these efforts, deepens Will's interest in lacrosse, an ancient game, and explains what sport really means as he leads the camp team to the tournament that closes the season. Norman, a soft-spoken teacher, takes on questions of the spirit, showing students how to move past their histories by blending the teachings of the Ancient Masters with quantum physics. As the students share what brought them to this point in their lives, Will and the others grow close, and Norman's lessons stay with each of them.

In the kitchen, Will draws on the hours he spent cooking with his father, his first culinary teacher, as he sharpens his skills alongside executive chef Steven. Aware of how fragile life is, he steps outside his comfort zone and opens up to Sarah, who tends the garden. He also slowly gets through to Danielle, a striking but withdrawn young woman guarded behind a hard emotional shell. Working with Juan, Will tries to extend the life of Toby, a young patient with leukemia.

When students, staff, and families gather to mark the end of the lacrosse season and Thanksgiving, a fire breaks out on the mountaintop. As it spreads, emergency crews from Tucson battle the blaze while Will and the others prepare to evacuate and anxiously wait for word of Juan and Genaro, who left before dawn in an old fire truck. Glancing around the dining hall at Sarah and the others he has come to care for, Will hopes the place he now thinks of as home will be spared. The novel is a reflective story about what it means to be human and how people can grow in body, mind, and spirit.