Cameron Simmons has always been haunted. It begins as a child, when Cam’s father bestows upon him an insult that will take a lifetime to outlive, blaming his slow development on a fictitious tortoise in his hair.

From there, Cam’s hauntings multiply: The constant threat of the Vietnam War draft. Failed relationships—and chemical dependencies—that stack up like empty pill bottles. Unfulfilling career moves. And the nagging feeling that his life is just destined to mean . . . something, anything at all. Something—a powerful word.

But these things form a pattern Cam can’t see—yet. It’s not until the earth-shattering discovery of his greatest haunting of all—the true identity of his guardian angel—that he can understand the purpose behind each heartache on his unwitting journey to spirit.

Capturing each moment of anguish or hilarity with painstaking detail, Calvin Barry Schwartz’s There’s a Tortoise in My Hair is more than a life story; it’s a legacy of love—for the world, for humanity, and for the pains of life that shape our ability to love in the first place.