For five years Me'acca Mysuth Sheever has lived among his "sworn enemies," pretending to be one of them. One night he buys a journal, its pages blank. The woman who sells him the journal extracts his promise to record his deeds for study. "Lo, the steps of your life mark the journey of your soul." To expose his prior life, however, would be akin to suicide, for Sheever is a man brimming with secrets. He begins the journal cautiously, describing...