ANGELS AND OTHERS by Ken Smith...

ANGELS AND OTHERS by Ken Smith (Confluence Press: $9.95). In his first collection of stories, Smith describes the gritty trials of people who have lived or are living through tough times in the modern West. “Catface’s Daughter” captures the anguish of a young white man who sees his love for an Amerindian girl destroyed by racial prejudice and the degrading effects of the whiskey his father sells. In the impressive title story, a resilient old woman tells her daughter, “I am not writing to you but about me. If I were to write to you , I would not tell the truth.” In convincing, straightforward prose, she recounts her life, an unconventional and violent story marred by racial hatred and vengeance, but ultimately redeemed by the transcendent power of family love.