Sweet Song

by Terry Persun

An archetypal American story of self-discovery, set against the turmoil of post – Civil War America, Sweet Song tells the story of the mixed race son of a white landowner and a black house servant. Leon, raised black but an outcast from both cultures, fi nds himself suddenly on his own — and passing for white.

Wrestling with a divided heritage in a world where honesty, even with friends, might prove fatal, he falls in with dispossessed thieves, mill workers, saloonkeepers, musicians, businessmen, thugs, freedom loving idealists and malevolent racists — a vivid panorama from America’s past. This tender, raw, provocative novel speaks from the heart about where we’ve come from and who we are.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical

274 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 1, 2002

About the author

Terry Persun is a former airborne navigation equipment specialist and electronics engineer presently freelancing for science and technology magazines. He has won nine awards for his fiction and was a finalist in another seven awards—IPPY, Book Excellence, Foreword Reviews, USABookNews, and others. Terry is a multi-genre author of intelligent, tech-forward fiction with clearly drawn characters and thought-provoking themes. You can find him at www.TerryPersun.com

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LIST OF MY BOOKS
Science Fiction: Biomass series:
BIOMASS: Rewind
BIOMASS: Sky People (coming soon)
BIOMASS: Alive (coming soon)
Science Fiction: Neal and Mavra series:
Revision 7: DNA
Backyard Aliens
Science Fiction: Tempest Eugene Nesbit series:
The Killing Machine
The Humanzee Experiments
Science Fiction Stand-Alones
Hear No Evil
Cathedral of Dreams

Fantasy: Doublesight series
Doublesight
Memory Tower
Fugitives
Gargoyle
Fantasy: Shaman Detective series
The NSA Files
The Voodoo Case
Stealing Childhood

Mystery/Suspense: Stand-Alones:
Coming Clean
Mistake In Identity
Man Behind the Door

Historical Novel: Stand-Alones:
Sweet Song
Ten Months in Wonderland

Magical Realism: Stand-Alones:
The Witness Tree
Wolf's Rite
Giver of Gifts
To Our Waking Souls

General Fiction: Stand-Alones:
The Perceived Darkness
Deception Creek

Poetry:
Horse Logic
Balancing Act
Navigating Wind
Broken Fingers
Beautys Run Road
Sentences
And Now This
Every Leaf
Barn Tarot

Reviews

[Robin · Rating 2 out of 5]

for a short book it was very long

[Gaile · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel takes place after the Civil War but nothing seems to have changed on Leon's plantation.
Born to a black mother, from a baby he looked white. Running away as a young boy, he takes on life as a white man even changing his name. Fearful that his past will catch up with him, his attempts to change his behavior to white and forget his scandalous past are very heartening. His adventures on the Susquehanna River, working in logging camps and later as a hired repair man are absorbing reading. Then he runs into his former owner and meets Jenny Finch. Will his half brothers come after him? Will Jenny have him once she knows the truth? Will her brothers want to kill him too?
All this takes place in the north in Ohio. It surprises me there would slave owners in Ohio and even in the north, black people were looked down on. The "N" word is used over and over in here yet Leon has to hear it over and over without blinking and has to learn to look white men in the eye.
This is a tale of a man straddling two worlds while at the same time trying to educate himself, escape violence and then he falls in love.

[Kristen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won this book on a Goodreads Giveaway.

This is one of those books that a person has to take their time with. It follows the story of Leon, who was born to a black mother and white farm-owner. Even though it was after the Civil War and Emancipation, there were still a lot of racial tensions. The black people who worked on the farm were treated as slaves.

This story shows Leon as he is trying to discover for himself who he is. He is an outcast by both the black and the white society, and he has to learn how to make a life for himself. He travels from town to town and struggles with his identity, he even gives himself a new name every so often to see if that identity works for him. He is constantly living in fear and self-doubt.

This book is a tough read because the reader really feels for Leon and all that he has to go through. It's hard to read about one person suffering through so much. It almost reminds me of the Pursuit of Happyness, where you think that there's only so much one person can take, and life just keeps hammering them over and over.

Even though it was a hard subject matter, I'm very glad I won this book and I would recommend it to anyone.

[Brian Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sweet Song is a coming-of-age story set in the years just after the American Civil War. Young Leon is the child of a white master and a slave who appears white. He is also the victim of sexual abuse by both his mother and his white half-sister. The opening pages are troubling yet handled with great insight. Leon’s family is both loving and dismissive, protective and horribly manipulative. Subject to cruelty and abuse, this is the only love the boy has ever known. But when the sister reveals her relationship with Leon to her father and her brothers, they converge on Leon’s home killing his black foster father before the boy’s eyes. Forced to flee, the future seems even darker than what he leaves behind.

But at its heart, Sweet Song is a novel of redemption and how a boy grows into a man. Leon’s journey finds him doubting his very identity, unsure of who he is, and even more unsure about those he meets on his journey. Are they who they say they are or, like him, hiding behind a façade, unworthy of trust? And, presenting himself as white, how would those he grows close to react if they discovered his real parentage? Especially at a time and in a culture where such a discovery could mean his death?

Above all, Sweet Song is wonderfully descriptive. Persun is a master of language placing the reader squarely into a setting that is itself a character with the heat, humidity, the bugs, the birds, and the alternatingly gurgling, surging, and laughing song of the river driving Leon onward to new beginnings both welcome and cursed. Highly recommended.

[Trina Talma · Rating 1 out of 5]

I tried to finish this book. Honestly I did. I struggled through 91% of it, according to my Kindle. Then I came to the sentence "Bob's stomach churned with acid put there by his own body", and my brain said, "Right. Either this book goes or I do." And what can I say: I need my brain more than I needed to finish reading this book. I'm cheating a little to say I read it, because after the first half I honestly skimmed quite a bit too. The only reason I'm keeping it in my books here is that I wanted to preserve my notes for posterity and the aid of future potential readers.

When did pages and pages of introspection and description become a substitute for a plot? And when did it become the fashion for an author to only edit maybe the first chapter of a book, and leave the rest to a spell-checker and luck? (Nobody's luck is that good. Nobody's. No matter how many books they've written.)

I (hate-)read (most of) this book so you won't have to. I only wish I'd gotten to it sooner. Think of all the needless suffering that could've been prevented. (Or should that be "could of"? The author of this book thinks so!)

[Terry Avent · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting read

This is one of the best books I've read in awhile. I was in turmoil with Bob he seemed so real. Great story!

[Haley Whitehall · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really couldn't get into the story. Sweet Song tells the story of fair-skinned Leon, born of a white landowner and a black house servant in post Civil War America, and his struggles for his identity. It was really a struggle to get through the first quarter of the book. I was as confused where the author was going with this story. There was little foreshadowing.

In the beginning the storyline is slow and disturbing. Without mention of a specific location, historical events, an explanation of why this "farm" and its inhabitants did not have contact with others outside of the farm, and with the dialogue sounding too contemporary, the first chapters just did not work. So much seemed to be missing and lacking. It did not give an authentic historical feel. I kept wonder what time the book took place and where it took place. More historical references are needed to bring the reader into the time period.

I was upset by several of the disturbing sexual references/events in the story. For example, Martha bathes naked in front of Leon telling him "stories" while he is four I think. Then the reader is subject to his mother sexually molesting him repeatedly. Then his sister insists on having sex with him too. It turned my stomach.

For the record, erotica does not bother me, but these events were not explained by character insight or motivation. They just happened out of nowhere. The pacing and plot become more engaging when Leon leaves the farm, and is plunged into the larger world, where he learns the rules of how to live as a white man. Unfortunately, it was too late for me to change my opinion of the book.

[Suzanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received an advanced copy of this book. In Sweet Song, we are presented with a character who struggles between two worlds being born half black and half white. He is a product of a slave and land owner's union. Leon is loved and hated in both worlds and is conflicted as to which life he would chose to lead. When Leon gets involved with Hilary the landowner's daughter (Leon's half sister) he is forced to leave and find his way in all his confusion. Sweet Song's story seemed to flow and was interwoven with some interesting characters. For me though, the story wasn't as riveting as I would have liked. It was a nice story but the ending wasn't very satisfying. All in all, I give it 3 stars out of 5. Sweet Song was just that....sweet.

[Jennifer Cain · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book as a giveaway.

Leon is undergoing an identity crisis. He is neither black nor white, Therefore, he struggles to exist among either race. Set in the post Civil War era, Sweet Song examines racial issues that still exist today. Along with racial topics, Sweet Song also weaves the tabu topics of incest, family structure, and adultery into Leon's story.

Although I enjoyed Sweet Song, I found the book a little choppy for my taste and had a difficult time dedicating my full attention to the story. In my opinion this would be an excellent selection for book clubs due to the wealth of discussion opportunities.

[Lois · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a new Civil War history buff, I was excited by the premise of this book and pleased that I had won a free copy through Goodreads Giveaways. However, I must agree with Linda's review of July 17, 2011. I would add an additional complaint to her list. There was an overwhelming number of personal issues the main character had to work through. Perhaps if only the one issue of African American/Caucasian mixed race would have been chosen to explore, the main character would have come across as stronger and better defined.

[Judith Kirscht · Rating 5 out of 5]

This compelling story of a mixed-race boy’s struggle to find identity in post-Civil War America explores the heart of our racial past and speaks truths that resonate with the undercurrents of our present. Because Persun reaches deep into the character of the boy and those he meets on his journey, avoiding stereotypes, we experience powerfully both the brutality and the compassion that shape Leon’s path. A deeply absorbing exploration of our national character. We live Leon's struggles,the people he meets are us.

[Gay · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won this book at Goodreads Giveaway, I was thrilled to get a free book! Very much enjoyed this book. It about a young nieve man, born to a white man and black woman during post civil war era. He goes through many trials and tribulation on the farm and then many experiences on the road trying to pass for white. Many trust issues come up. Didn't like the ending as you don't know what becomes of him.

[Linda · Rating 1 out of 5]

The main story line, coming of age, not knowing where you fit in, was valid, but there just wasn't enough interraction with other characters to develop a strong hero. Leon interracts with pages and pages of scenery which is too repetitive and seems to go nowhere. In fact, you're never quite sure where he is. The author is too vague.

[Jennifer Steinmetz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book. It takes place just after the civil war. Leon is born to a black (former slave) and the white owner of the property. Through an unfortunate series of events, Leon is forced to leave the life he knows for a new one. He starts life over living as a white man. He is very light and well educated. His experiences are captivating.

[Kati · Rating 2 out of 5]

I won this as a Firstreads Giveaway. Meh. The story itself was... interesting. But I really never got invested in the characters. It read like a "young adult" book that I might have liked when I was 10 or 11... Wait. IS it a YA book?

[Cynthia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a hard book to get through. After awhile i could see where i was heading and i like the book it was just a different then what i have been reading. The life of Leon/Bob White have been lives of many man in history.

[Heidi Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terry Persun's Sweet Song was one of those books I love reading, one you don't want to put down. This is a tender story of self-discovery and acceptance by an outcast from two cultures. The writing is evocative and picturesque, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

[Beverly · Rating 3 out of 5]

A different approach to the slave/owner relationship, from the first person account of a mulatto boy trying to find his place in the world. The story was jerky and tedious in parts, with an abrupt ending that left me unsatisfied.

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book speaks to the heart because of the protagonist's struggle within. Where does he fit? He is biracial in a post Civil War era, which complicates his life. He is able to pass for white, but cannot be honest about his heritage although he values honesty. This is a must read!

[Naomi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. I felt bad for the main character right away..but had some pleasant surprises in the book. I will def. seek out other books by this author. Final GR rating...3.5/5 stars.

[Charmer (+ Vibes Only) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Poor Leon, he went through so much. I liked it, but I wanted to know what happened w/ Leon and So & So.

[Therese]

$0.0

[A Ghandour · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting but not earthshaking. The characters aren't developed enough for me to feel a connection.

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loving it so far! I'll say more when I've finished it.