Sweet Song
by Terry Persun
An archetypal American story of self-discovery, set against the turmoil ofpost-Civil War America, Sweet Song tells the story of the mixed race sonof a white landowner and a black house servant. Leon, raised black butan outcast from both cultures, fi nds himself suddenly on his own-andpassing for white.Wrestling with a divided heritage in a world where honesty, even withfriends, might prove fatal, he falls in with dispossessed thieves, millworkers, saloon keepers, musicians, businessmen, thugs, freedom lovingidealists and malevolent racists-a vivid panorama from America's past.This tender, raw, provocative novel speaks from the heart about wherewe've come from and who we are.Praise for Persun's previous work: "When Persun writes of man/nature, he writes of us-not just to us-and shows us images we can't simply blink away."- Robert Fulton, author and essayistThe Witness Tree: "Persun manages to suspend disbelief as he weaves an imaginative tale exploring the complex relationship between art and madness."- Tim W. Brown, Small Press ReviewGiver of Gifts: ..".a beguiling portrait of a dying man who discovers romance in truth and the joys of living in the promise of death."- Adrianne Harun, author of The King of Limbo and Other Stories