Dayna Dunbar, The Saints and Sinners of Okay County

The Saints and Sinners of Okay County was an excellent book. I can't believe this is by a first time novelist. Dayna Dunbar really reaches right into your heart and pulls you into the book.

The Saints and Sinners of Okay County

Dayna Dunbar

Ballantine, Jan 2004, $23.95, 320 pp.

ISBN: 0345460391

In 1976 Okay, Oklahoma during the annual Okay Czech Festival, Aletta Honor watches the parade when a woman comes up to her and says she glows. Aletta tells the stranger to avoid the highway. The next day the visitor returns to thank Aletta who saved her life

Aletta has personal problems to contend with since her husband Jimmy left her with no money, three kids, and pregnant. She always had the gift, but rarely used it. However, desperately in need of money she decides to start a business as a Psychic Reader. As her reputation grows, townsfolk especially her spouse are not sure what to make of Aletta, whose accuracy is incredible. That does not disturb her. However, by returning to her gift, the memories of what happened to her family two decades ago also flood her mind, but with a horror that she prefers to ignore. Now Aletta is regaining her life one mental step at a time.

THE SAINTS AND SINNERS OF OKAY COUNTY is an engaging historical women's fiction (1976 feels so ancient due to the PC and other technological advances) tale that focuses predominantly on a person taking control of their life. The story line is at its best when it remains in the present (1976 that is); flashbacks to Aletta's childhood adds depth as to why she prefers not to use her gift, but also disrupts the problems she must face as an adult with children whose oldest is only fourteen. Dayna Dunbar writes a solid tale that readers will appreciate.

Harriet Klausner