Anyone Who Has a Heart
By Jacqueline Powell

      Anyone Who Has a Heart tells the intertwining stories of three St. Louis residents, their friends and family.

     Theresa, a mother and teacher, struggles to reclaim her life. Three years after her husband's death she is still plagued by nightmares in which Don beckons her to join him. She turns to alcohol and Vince.

     Vince, an editor and buff brotha, tires of battling memories of Theresa's husband. During their separation, he comes to terms with his racism, his sexuality and his distant father.

     Zenobia, a nightclub manager and cynic, battles her daughter's father and an unfaithful lover before she meets David, a Virgin Islands brotha, who tries to prove not all men are mis-users.

     While the major characters try to come to terms with their own lives and loves, readers meet Lainey, who is convinced her husband is gay; Ray, a nightclub owner with AIDS; Maurice who has just learned his teenage girlfriend is pregnant; Nikai who believes she loves two men; and Sheila, the one woman who guides them all.

     "Anyone Who Has a Heart" is a quick-moving, edgy tale that is hard to set aside. Ms. Powell draws readers into her characters' struggles in an honest, non-judgmental manner and offers wisdom through her words. I found the novel entertaining and enlightening: "Anyone who has a heart will have problems, can be fooled and can fall in love for all the wrong reasons."