One Day in Saw a Black King
J. D. Mason
St. Martin's, Sep 2004, $12.95, 346 pp.
ISBN: 0312306199

His fourteen-year-old mother Mattie died giving birth to him; his maternal grandmother Agnes raised him but never forgave him for the death of her daughter. At fifteen, feeling all alone and never tasting affection, John King leezves his home. He rambles from town to town, takes odd jobs, and never remains around long enough for women to know him.

Her mother Charlotte Rodgers abandoned twelve-year- old Connie and her younger sister Reesy to run off with her latest lover Sammy. The Colorado foster care system separated the kids, though Connie was more of a mother to Reesy than Charlotte was. A nice couple adopts Reesy almost immediately, but Connie is bumped from home to uncaring home until she is placed with a foster father who desires things from her no child should even know about. Connie flees to the streets where she meets more betrayal and pain.

In Denver, John and Connie meet. Neither trusts anyone, but a kindred spirit connects them. As they begin to forge the unthinkable, a loving relationship, bitter symbols from their past surface. His grandmother is dying and her sister wants to see her again.

This story starts slow so that the audience can fully understand the demons that haunt the lead couple, but once they meet, the tale turns into an incredible relationship drama that showcases the healing power of love. John and Connie hook the audience as both feels strongly the bitterness of rejection and though trust is nonexistent they begin to help one another. Fans of deep character-driven plots will want to read this powerful novel that everyone needs a lot of love.

Harriet Klausner