BENEATH THE SURFACE

Before Edward William Murrell became a name preserved in family records, he was a Kentucky son, a United States Navy veteran, a husband to Juanita, and a man remembered by those who loved him for his kindness, strength, and unforgettable smile. *Beneath the Surface* follows Edward from the pressures and silence of the underwater world to the California home he and Juanita struggle to build. His work teaches him to trust the unseen connections that keep a person alive—but life above the surface proves just as demanding. Marriage, fatherhood, loss, aging, and the difficult work of preserving family history test the lessons Edward learned beneath the water. As the past rises through the story of William Murrell, a Black Union soldier in the 109th United States Colored Infantry, Edward begins to understand that every family carries stories waiting to be recovered—and truths that must be handled with care. Inspired by real lives, oral history, photographs, and documentary evidence, *Beneath the Surface* is a moving historical novel about service, love, memory, and the responsibility of one generation to preserve what might otherwise disappear. It asks a powerful question: How deeply should we search for the past, and when must we return to the living?