On his last night, the great man is compelled to tell the true story of his life to his friend and manservant, Bobby, including the unsavory bits history books will gloss over.
Franklin knows he has only one night to atone for his sins. He has come to abhor slavery and offers to free Bobby, who hesitates, fearing the outside world. Bobby wants to know how his master rose from obscurity to wealth and fame. "Read my book," (his autobiography) Franklin tells him. "What's not in the book?" Bobby asks, unleashing the story of the unknown Benjamin Franklin.
Franklin unfurls a sprawling saga of intrigue, romance, epic battles, love and loss. Bobby learns why Franklin never married his common-law wife, Deborah, or Margaret Stevenson, with whom he lived in London for fifteen years. Franklin tells a story fraught with illegitimate offspring, fathered by himself, his son, and his grandson. Who was the mother of his own bastard son, William? It is a confidence Bobby will take to his grave.
Franklin's towering achievements in science and diplomacy are sullied by his tragic relationship with his son. Too long oblivious to William's treachery, he keeps him by his side as William weaves a pattern of betrayal and eventual treason. In a final meeting at Southampton, William begs his father for reconciliation and forgiveness, which Franklin fails to grant.
Bobby's decision to accept Franklin's offer of freedom, only moments before Franklin succumbs, leads "Dear Ben" to a surprising conclusion.
