Deborah King is an excellent storyteller. Throughout the book, I always had a clear mental picture of Mary’s surroundings, her family, and those around her.

This is a story about Mary Johnson’s life. Beginning in 1935, in rural Mississippi, where Mary, at the age of 15, was forced to deal with an arranged marriage. Mary’s father, Reverend Johnson, wants his daughter to avoid shaming her family by marrying an older minister who is approaching retirement age. Mary finds a way to avoid this marriage, setting off a chain of events throughout her life that culminate in the birth of her daughter, Glory in 1966.

Mary’s life takes a long and twisted path, starting in a patriarchal home, part of the Black church culture, where the woman is assumed to be at fault and the man runs the show. This is a complicated story of a woman who makes the life choices she finds necessary and lives with the consequences and resulting trauma. Over time she comes to believe that the trauma she has suffered is God's punishment and she develops a lifestyle that she feels will allow her to avoid God’s further judgment. In the end, Mary Johnson is an overcomer.

The characters in this book are well-developed. Some are not likable … but there wouldn’t be a story if everyone was a saint. The story alternates between medium and fast-paced, and if there is one complaint that I would have it would be that at times the story is a bit rushed.

Thank you to Book Sirens, Red Adept Publishing, and the author, Deborah L. King for the opportunity to review an Advanced Reader copy of this book, in exchange for my honest review. Less than 24 hours after I was given access, I finished. I couldn’t put it down. I thoroughly enjoyed this work and look forward to reading more of Deborah King's work.