Bloodroot

By: Amy Greene

Narrated by: Lorna Raver, Kirby Heyborne, Jessie Bernstein, Rebecca Lowman, Emily Janice Card, Richard McGonagle

Named for a flower whose blood-red sap possesses the power both to heal and poison, Bloodroot is a stunning fiction debut about the legacies - of magic and madness, faith and secrets, passion and loss - that haunt one family across the generations, from the Great Depression to today.

The novel is told in a kaleidoscope of seamlessly woven voices and centers around an incendiary romance that consumes everyone in its path: Myra Lamb, a wild young girl with mysterious, haint blue eyes who grows up on remote Bloodroot Mountain; her grandmother Byrdie Lamb, who protects Myra fiercely and passes down "the touch" that bewitches people and animals alike; the neighbor boy who longs for Myra yet is destined never to have her; the twin children Myra is forced to abandon but who never forget their mother's deep love; and John Odom, the man who tries to tame Myra and meets with shocking, violent disaster. Against the backdrop of a beautiful but often unforgiving country, these lives come together - only to be torn apart - as a dark, riveting mystery unfolds.

With grace and unflinching verisimilitude, Amy Greene brings her native Appalachia - and the faith and fury of its people - to rich and vivid life. Here is a spellbinding tour de force that announces a dazzlingly fresh, natural-born storyteller in our midst.

©2009 Amy Greene (P)2009 Random House

Amazing story

This book was haunting. The depth of characters was rich.It was wonderfully read my numerous voices. I have been an audible customer for years and this was one of the best.

Excellent read

This is a great first novel. The characters are very strong, the story is truly compelling and the warmth for the culture is obvious. I found myself missing the characters when I wasn't reading. It is, of course, a treat to have multiple readers and they all do a great job. There are some flaws that could have been edited out which is often typical of a first novel, but they just don't matter given the weight of the story and the breadth of the characters. One of my all time favorites.

one of the best reads ever

wonderful book read by this cast was pure entertainment. I hated when it ended. Thanks to all for an amazing experience. I've been doing audible books for years (originally on cassettes!) - this is truly one of the best.

IT'S NOT FORGETTING THAT HEALS. IT'S REMEMBERING.

What did you love best about Bloodroot?

I love how the author wrote her characters in dialect and I give a lot of credit to the narrators who absolutely did an excellent job as well. The 'mountain-speak' dialect greatly enhanced my listening experience as it allowed me to hear, see, feel and almost taste the hauntingly bleak and riveting stories of each woman of the four generations of Lamb women in Bloodroot.

Would you be willing to try another book from Amy Greene? Why or why not?

I will not hesitate to purchase more of Ms. Greene's books. If it/they are as good as Bloodroot then she has an eternal fan in me.

What about the narrators’s performance did you like?

The narrators are absolutely fabulous. They bring the story to life in such a way that even I felt nostalgic for a place and people I have never seen. I truly would have gotten into a car and driven to Tennessee if I knew I could meet Ms. Greene's characters.

Any additional comments?

This book has stayed with me. It brought tears to my eyes as well as tender redeeming moments that made me smile. I was hypnotized by the author’s vivid images of the stunning and wildly beautiful mountain-side as well as her descriptions of the poor and rundown lives of Tennessee’s rural backwoods residents. The Lamb women are born into hard lives. Theirs are the voices of unschooled, poverty stricken women who live in squalor, who are accustomed to situations of drug abuse, alcoholism, etc. and who choose men who prove to be less than adequate husbands and fathers.I could not help being drawn to the elements of superstition, magic, spirits, the Lambs’ family curses and their legacy as witches; and the beauty and tragedy of Myra Lamb with her ‘haint blue eyes’. Myra is born with the 'gift''. She can commune with birds, horses and other wild creatures. One day a neighbor finds her asleep in the leaves with a kaleidoscope of butterflies covering her like a blanket. She seems almost ethereal but like any teenage girl, Myra falls. She meets the darkly handsome John Odom and she’s willing to do whatever it takes to win him...even if that means resorting to a love charm she knows is taboo.

Excellent story, wonderfully narrated!

Loved the story...a little dark but beautiful imagery. Various characters were represented by different voices that pulled you right into the setting. I was disappointed when the story ended because I wanted to keep listening. Highly recommend!!!

Bloodroot is spot-on with East Tennessee tone

I loved this book! Having grown up, lived and raised a family in rural East Tennessee I know these characters, these mountains and the love of home and family. I could see the sights and smell the smells and even taste the meals Birdie put on the table. The poverty and violence of many of the characters was sadly familiar too. This book is an excellent read for anyone with mountain roots and everyone who longs to feel and understand the lore, the love and the history of Appalachia.

Appalachian storytelling at its best

This enchanting novel weaves the elements of Appalachian themes with a compelling story! The honesty and stark realism of this novel will stay with you long after you read the last page.

mixed emotions

loved the narrators, wished for different ending. I wasn't able to listen at long periods of time, so it was hard for me to keep up with the characters hopping all over. I don't like writers going back & forth like that.

Amusing, but not riveting

Descriptions really pop; felt like I was living among the characters, but at times, the plot felt characterized and too familiar. Performers were stellar... Nice story, but not one that kept me sitting in my car to hear the end of the chapter.

I simply loved this book

I found myself continuously looking at the book cover on my ipod trying to guess which character the woman in the blue dress was. I felt sad a lot of the time while listening, but I couldn't stop listening-crazy huh? I was happy thinking yay!! Finally something happy in this character's life and then... sadness again. It's worth your credit- the narration cast is everything I look forward to in a book.