Ronita Johnson

Coming to Forgiveness: a Daughter's Story of Race, Rage, and Religion Ronita Johnson

San Francisco becomes a most cherished memory when, in 1953, six-year old Ronita realizes she is living with a zealot as a father in bigoted Minden, Louisiana. Her father imposes an assignment on her to live up to his unbending standards of perfection-one she cannot meet no matter how hard she tries. Is it because of the terrible secret she harbors within? Maybe. But she soon discovers that the holy man has a secret too. Desperate to placate her father and be the "good" daughter, she begins a journey of deception hiding behind behaviors that mask her true self. Secrets, lies, desire, and naivete control Ronita's adolescence, until an anonymous letter addressed to her father arrives on a cold day in February 1961--a letter with grace consequences that will forever after affect the choices she makes in life. Set in a tumultuous time in American history, Coming To Forgiveness follows a daughter's love for her father as she grows up with religious fanaticism, hypocrisy, betrayal, and deceit. As a result, she searches for worthiness and acceptance in all the wrong places, until she stumbles on a most remarkable hidden treasure.