Bloodroot

Bloodroot by Amy Greene is the author's debut novel.  I had been wanting to read it for some time, and finally got to it.  It was a quick read and at one point, I even checked to see if it was a Young Adult novel.  That seems foolish since the content of the story wouldn't really be appropriate for young readers, but the Ms. Greene's writing style seemed quite simple to me.  I also had a bit of trouble following the story, as it would seem to rather abruptly change perspectives, being told by different people and at times, I could not figure out who the person was telling the story.  She did eventually get around to letting the reader know, but I found it confusing.  However, after saying all of this, I found myself thinking about the story quite awhile after I finished it, which is an indication of a good book for me!  And actually, the story was very good.

From the back cover of the book:

Myra Lamb is a wild girl with mysterious, haint blue eyes who grows up on remote Bloodroot Mountain.  Her grandmother, Byrdie, protects her fiercely and passes down "the touch" that bewitches people and animals alike.  But when John Odom tries to tame Myra, it sparks a shocking disaster, ripping lives apart.  Bloodroot is the dark and riveting story of the legacies-of magic and madness, faith and secrets, passion and loss-that haunt one family across the generations.

That is what initially attracted me to the book.  And it sums it up well.

Chapter One is told alternately by Byrdie Lamb and Doug Cotter.  Byrdie is Myra's grandmother, who has raised her.  Doug is a neighbor on the mountain, who has loved Myra since they were little kids.  Byrdie and Doug are dealing with the fact that Myra has fallen in love with John Odom and both are afraid that he will take Myra away from Bloodroot Mountain.   Chapter Two is then narrated by Johnny Odom and Laura Odom Blevins, the twin children that were born to Myra and John Odom.  Chapter Three is told by Myra Odom, and  the Epilogue is told by John Odom.

For me, Bloodroot was primarily about mother and child relationships.  The story takes place in the mountain country of Tennessee.   Byrdie had lost all of her children, then raised her granddaughter, Myra.  Myra left with John and their relationship quickly became abusive and difficult, which resulted in Myra being lost to Byrdie.  After much abuse, Myra got away from John, then lost her children.  Her children ended up paying a high price for John and Myra's past.

I feel as if I am being very vague about the story, but I don't want to give anything away.  I was impressed with how Ms. Greene ended the book, and as I said, I kept thinking about the story after I finished it, even as I was reading my next book!  Do I recommend the book?  Yes, I highly recommend it.  I think that it would make a good choice for a woman's reading/book group! 

The Tenderness of Wolves

I just finished The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney last night and was so sorry that it was over. What I great way to begin my 2009 reading! After I finished it, I found myself wishing that I was reading it for a college course, where we would have much discussion on it and would have to write a paper on different aspects, etc. It was that good.

Here is a brief blurb from the back of the book:

“The year is 1867. Winter has just tightened its grip on Dove River, a tiny isolated settlement in the Northern Territory, when Laurent Jammett is brutally murdered.

A local woman, Mrs. Ross, stumbles upon the crime scene and sees the tracks leading from the dead man’s cabin north toward the forest and the tundra beyond. It is Mrs. Ross’s knock on the door of the largest house in Caulfield that launches the investigation. Within hours she will regret that knock with a mother’s love-for soon she makes another discovery: her seventeen-year-old son Francis has disappeared as well, and is now considered a prime suspect.”

And that is just a piece of the whole story! There are several other stories/subplots within the book that I found fascinating. One of the sub-stories was of two sisters who had disappeared from the area years ago. I should add that the story takes place in Northern Canada. Several different parties head out into the wild looking for Francis and answers. The book does an excellent job of relating several different relationships occurring through-out the story. I was fascinated with all of the different relationships. Ms. Penney did an excellent job with the stories, and tying them all together. I really enjoyed her writing style.

Here’s just the very briefest teaser from the book:

“She drops her face until it is hidden in shadow. Donald feels ashamed of himself. Her parents had been the object of so much sympathy; everyone was in awe of their loss. But the lost grieve, too.”

That may not seem especially great, but in context of the story, it struck me as profound!

Just as an interesting aside: this was another 1^st novel by the author. I am constantly amazed at all of the great 1^st novels out there!

The Worst Thing I've Done

No, this isn't some confession of the worst thing I have done. It is the name of the last book that I have read: The Worst Thing I've Done by Ursula Hegi.

The story is about 3 childhood friends, Jake, Mason and Annie. Mason appears to be a severe personality disorder (just my clinical opinion), who appears to successfully dictate whatever he wants the relationships between the three of them to be at any given time. Annie ends up marrying Mason, primarily because Jake could handle being the one left out, and Mason couldn't. The three remain best friends over the years. When Annie's little sister is left orphaned, the three vow to raise her together. Opal, Annie's sister, is nineteen years younger than Annie and together they struggle with their mother/sister relationship.

The book is well written and the story grabbed me immediately. I believe that the first sentence of this book may possibly be the best first sentence of a book that I have ever read:

"Tonight, Annie is driving from North Sea to Montauk and back to North Sea as she has every night since Mason killed himself."

Unless suicide is a present trauma for someone, who could resist reading more after that sentence? It pulled me into the story immediately. And I was not disappointed. Even in death, Mason has a huge pull/influence on Jake, Annie and Opal. Thankfully, Annie has a woman she grew up with that was her mother's best friend, whom Annie calls "Aunt Stormy". Annie and Opal go to stay with Aunt Stormy after Mason kills himself and Aunt Stormy wisely allows Annie to mourn, but gently guides her to healing.

This is a somewhat complicated book about very complicated relationships, but I found it easy to read. I will be curious to hear what others think about it.