I’ve begun to notice a pattern in my reading. This happens a lot. I’ll jump from historical fiction to literary coming-of-age stories to popular best sellers and back, gobbling them all up along the way.
It seems there is an abundance of Appalachian fiction these days and it would appear that I am slightly addicted to it. We all know how I felt after reading Sweeping Up Glass. I also ventured outside the Random House family last fall and read Velva Jean Learns to Drive and The Well and the Mine, both fine reads. My latest favorite, Bloodroot, is set in East Tennesse’s Smoky Mountains and follows three generations of a family haunted by secrets and madness, blood red love and intense hatred, from the Great Depression to present day. And I must say I agree with a fellow Goodreads.com member who said not to be fooled by the peaceful looking cover, this book is vicious. A debut novel, it is wonderfully written. Somber and heartbreaking, even the most difficult moments are gorgeous. Also woven into the narrative and the lives of the characters are smidges of magical realism that enable the reader to vividly imagine each wild woman and her “haint blue” eyes as well as the ghosts that haunt the residents of Bloodroot Mountain.
This one is available now. Pick it up. You won’t be sorry!
-Marie