title: Presumption
author: Fisher, Hank
description: Presumption is an unorthodox Wild West romantic tale that primarily takes place in the Denver area between 1883-1888. Darik Jacoby, the protagonist, is a young ranch hand at Eagle Trail Ranch located a few miles south of Denver, but just as important as his life as a free-spirited cowboy is that at age thirteen Darik emigrated by himself to America from the farmlands of Romania, settling down at Eagle Trail Ranch near Denver at the time the Colorado gold rush began in 1859. Among the attributes that differentiate Darik from stereotypical cowboys portrayed in Western-oriented literature and cinema is that he's an accomplished artist, a master wood-carver who creates magical birdhouses handcrafted from solid blocks of wood; a young man with a quasi-mystical connection to trees and nature in general. Darik's tale is a candid, sometimes raw romance adventure involving a young man coming to terms with his own existence by gaining varying degrees of understanding about his various sexual encounters; a love at first sight event he experiences in a sunflower field that is followed shortly thereafter by a major tragedy; and his seemingly endless self-searching that leads him eventually to realizations about his meandering journey into adulthood.  Although not the major component of the story, this novel incorporates a realistic look at racism and bigotry against the Chinese who were living and working in Denver. At that at a time, Darik finally comes to terms with the inexplicable loss of several loved ones that create emotional potholes that have earmarked his life.