Review: Amaryllis in Blueberry

Amaryllis in Blueberry by Christina Meldrum

Paperback, 384 pages

Published February 8th 2011

by Gallery Books

What really caught my eye as a reader was the cover. Now I can say that I tore apart The Poisonwood Bible for an English class and picked apart all the symbolism, but what AIB brought to me was an entire different distinctive read. I was not looking for insight into the African culture I was interested in the family perspective of overcoming obstacles and making it past the skeletons in the closet that had been hiding.
As the character’s stories changed and interweaves from past and present sense in the novel I was enthralled by all of the inner dialog going on. I had a quiet weekend to sit down as really absorb into this book and I came out loving it.
The description of place was beautifully written as the book took us through Michigan and parts of West Africa. I could feel the environments in the written as well as the building suspense in the storyline.
The characters and their emotions, shortcomings, and intent was thick enough to cut with a fork and the inner weaving story through all of the book was breathtaking to read and assimilate.
Over all AIB was a great read. I had to read parts over a few times to catch points that I had missed, but the book presented a fresh new read and a very interesting perspective on people, and I had a great time experiencing all of these amazingly written characters.

Book Blurb:

In the stirring tradition of The Secret Life of Bees and The Poisonwood Bible, Amaryllis in Blueberry explores the complexity of human relationships set against an unforgettable backdrop. Told through the haunting voices of Dick and Seena Slepy and their four daughters, Christina Meldrum's soulful novel weaves together the past and the present of a family harmed--and healed--by buried secrets.

"Maybe, unlike hope, truth couldn't be contained in a jar..."

Meet the Slepys: Dick, the stern doctor, the naive husband, a man devoted to both facts and faith; Seena, the storyteller, the restless wife, a mother of four, a lover of myth. And their children, the Marys: Mary Grace, the devastating beauty; Mary Tessa, the insistent inquisitor; Mary Catherine, the saintly, lost soul; and finally, Amaryllis, Seena's unspoken favorite, born with the mystifying ability to sense the future, touch the past and distinguish the truth tellers from the most convincing liar of all.

When Dick insists his family move from Michigan to the unfamiliar world of Africa for missionary work, he can't possibly foresee how this new land and its people will entrance and change his daughters--and himself--forever.

Nor can he predict how Africa will spur his wife Seena toward an old but unforgotten obsession. In fact, Seena may be falling into a trance of her own. . .