Writer Dueweke performs as both a poet and fabricator of prose in this offering.

Reviewed first for Word Weaving
Title: . Priona
Author: . Paul Dueweke
Line/Publisher: . Self Published
Release Date: . 2001
ISBN: pending
eBook Formats
Interesting read ... Recommended ... four stars

The Review:

Ben and Priona meet onboard a train heading toward and away from the pueblo where Priona has lived her whole life. The pair share little in common other than the fact that both are Catholic. Their backgrounds are completely dissimilar. Priona the poet shares her dreams and longings for a better life she hopes to find in New York City with Ben as they travel. Ben appears to be a typical middle class youngster.

The young pair become more than simple travelers sharing a small slice of life together before they part to live their own lives. Priona’s hopes for a life in New York may be short circuited. She was only able to afford a ticket to Cincinnati where both she and Ben will depart. He will continue the life he had planned. She says she will begin hitch hiking east. For each the train trip becomes a precursor for both Priona and Ben making a journey to New Mexico where Ben meets many of Priona’s family before he and Priona must part. This time both know they are parting for good. Forty years later the recently widowed Ben travels to New Mexico where he finds Priona once more.

Writer Dueweke has produced an entertaining work in his small novel Priona. Dispensed in large part through fast paced dialogue the narrative surrounding young lovers who know their disparate lives simply cannot be as they hope grasps the reader and moves them right along unhindered to the closing paragraphs. The pair of main characters is presented in enough depth to sustain the tale despite a paucity of detail surrounding a majority of the other players. Dueweke performs as both a poet and fabricator of prose in this offering.

Dueweke has researched his subject and the New Mexico region in which Priona lives. His research is evident in his writing. Poetry interspersed in the work is well thought out and acceptable to read. The dissimilar lives Ben and Priona have lived prior to their meeting is reminiscent of the situation so many of us find ourselves entering into as we develop our own relationships.

Priona is a slice of life offering sure to please those who enjoy a pleasant read on a lazy afternoon.

Reviewed by: molly martin http://www.angelfire.com/ok4/mollymartin