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Meldrum's story about an anything-but-ordinary family in crisis stretches from the shores of a Michigan lake to the heart of West Africa.
The Slepys seem like a perfect family: Dad, Dick, is a pathologist who fell in love with Christina, who prefers to be called Seena, when he sat behind her in a college class. Their daughters, Mary Grace, Mary Catherine, Mary Tessa and Amaryllis, are both as similar and as different as siblings can be. The three Marys are blond and beautiful, as ephemeral as their Scandinavian-looking parents. But Amaryllis, known simply as Yllis, is not. Birthed in a blueberry field, she is dark, with blue eyes, and has a special gift that allows her to taste emotions and see souls. Dick, who rightly suspects he is not the father of his youngest child, suddenly decides he wants to move the family to West Africa. Seena argues against it, but Yllis detects that she really wants to go. Grace, who carries a secret with her, gives up college, and the entire family, including the devoutly religious Catherine, mean-to-the-bone Tessa and the family dog, packs up and goes. Soon they are caught up in odd dramas that include a pending marriage with a strange man, Catherine's dive into anorexia and the growing chasm between Dick and Seena. Meldrum writes beautifully, but the characters are hard to like and care about. Dick and Seena are so caught up in their own personal dramas that they fail to intervene as the family falls apart. Yllis, who has sensed she is not Dick's child, watches as her aloof, self-absorbed parents disintegrate in spectacular fashion in an inhospitable setting. But the family's move to West Africa, the story of Clara, an old woman back in Michigan, and the trajectory of all their intersecting destinies make for some confusing, though interesting, storytelling.
The book opens with Seena on trial in a native African court for Dick's murder and works its way back to that point in a colorful tale about people who don't know how to communicate with one another.
THE END
West Africa
Dick is dead. Seena knows this, of course: her husband is dead. Yet she keeps expecting him to barrel in, his enormous, gangling self plodding along, a spectacle unaware that he is one. Was one, she thinks. Was one. Still, she finds herself waiting for him to call out, make some pointless point, make it clear to everyone that he just doesn’t get it. She anticipates the annoyance she so often would feel around him. She almost longs for it—this longing he’d disappear, shut up, let her be. Because he has disappeared, shut up, let her be. He is dust from dust. Ashes from ashes. As dead as a doornail.
And she has the devil to pay.
Like Dick would say, “The devil take the hindmost.”
Dick’s moved on, and she’s left to pay. Alone.
Because he did get it, more than she did—she knows this. But the recognition came only after the trigger was pulled, so to speak, after the poison went flying, when it pierced his pale chest, when it was long past too late. Now she understands she was the spectacle unaware: she was the fool.
And she wonders, How can you live with someone for years—know the softening ring around his still-thin waist, the changed texture of his graying stubble, the scent in the hollow beneath his Adam’s apple—and see only your imagination reflected?
Seena is on trial in a village in West Africa, in a “customary court.” The courthouse is the schoolhouse, transformed. The village elders—one a witch doctor, one a queen—are her accusers, judge and jury. She was indignant when she learned this, sure it couldn’t be. She’s an American, she’d said. She’s entitled to due process. “These customary courts, they must be illegal. There are laws—aren’t there?—even here, even in this hell?”
But she’s a murderer, the elders said: she’s entitled to nothing. “Our courts are based on our traditions, which are different from yours. Americans think they alone make laws, but we have our own rule.”
They have their own rule.
“Christina Slepy?” the witch doctor, this so called “wise man,” says. He speaks to Seena, and watches her. Every person in the crowded room watches her; she feels this. And she knows if she were to look up at them, she would see only the whites of their eyes, and perhaps a shock of color from clothes that now seem mocking. They’ve told her the reasons women kill, and they’ve told her no matter her reason, she had no right. Still, they demand to know her reason, and she wonders which to choose. Which would they believe, or not? Which would solicit less loathing?
Even as she ponders these questions, she is aware she has no idea what they would believe, or not—no idea of the seed of their loathing, the fruit of their pity, whether they ever would feel pity for her. This is a world of rules turned inside out, a world where all she took for granted has been stripped away. She is a carcass, ripped clean of flesh. A skeleton of holes. No longer can her mind set her apart, give her that private space where the real world could seem a dream. No longer can she fill her holes with assumptions: that rationality wins in the end, that humans have rights, that white humans have rights. She never appreciated this distinction before—appreciated that she made this distinction. She never thought of herself as racist. Dick was a racist, she knew. Not a malicious racist. A do-good kind of racist. A feel-sorry-for kind of racist. A thank-God-I’m-white kind of racist: there but for the grace of God go I. But not her. Not her. How could she be racist, given the only man she’d ever loved?
Yet she set foot in this dusty African world never believing its dust and rules would apply to her, her children, her mind. But why wouldn’t they apply? Because she’s white, she thought, that’s why. Only, she didn’t really think this, she knew this. It was in her flesh—what made her feel whole. She never had to think it; it just was. She never had to come to terms with being racist; she just was. As she sits here condemned, she knows this. And she knows she should be condemned, if for this reason alone—especially given her child of light.
“Do you have anything to say?” asks the elder, who is not even old. He is forty perhaps. At max. And Seena thinks, He is neither wise nor old, yet he has the power of Zeus, here. He and the queen of this village—Avone—are the gods of this universe, painting this African sky. Painting me, the African version of Clytemnestra.
“What don’t I have to say?” she would like to say. “You want me to admit guilt? I’ll admit it. I came here having little respect for your beliefs and laws and I flouted them willingly. You want me to say I hated my husband—that I wanted him dead so I could be free to love my lover? I’ll say it. You want me to tell you I committed adultery and squandered the welfare of my children for the sake of lust while I spit in God’s face. It’s all true.”
“No,” she says. “I have nothing to say.”
© 2011 Christina Meldrum
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.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.ReaderDad
Posted March 28, 2011
When I logged on to write this review, I was surprised by the review posted immediately before me. This book provides such a great demonstration of how the same events may be viewed differently from various characters' perspectives. These characters are thoughtful and complex, yet each unique and entertaining. The contrast among them, and between the Michigan and African locales, kept me engaged throughtout this wonderful novel. Meldrum explores personal and community myths of family, religion and culture through these various eyes and locations with a lyrical style that is hers alone. The rythum and irony of her writing are something special and thought-provoking. I think that the critical reviewer below has missed the point of this book. These stories are told throught the subjective eyes of a 70's era Michigan familiy with many difficult emotional struggles. They are not objective truths - that is the point Their perspectives and difficulties make us think about our own assumptions and personal myths. Yes, there are people in society who struggle with these challenges of love and purpose. Thank goodness for literature that helps us think about those challenges.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.BookHounds
Posted March 12, 2011
All I can say is WOW! This book reminds me when I first read The Help and The Secret Life of Bees and has a very strong balance of characters that will make you think. This is going to be THE book for book groups this year and one that I can't stop thinking about or telling people about.
The story revolves around 4 sisters and their mother and the father is the catalyst for their actions. Each girl tells her own story and relates the events through their own eyes while interweaving the story between them. Seena, the mother, is the cornerstone and finds ways to intertwine Greek mythology while relating her own history. Each of the Mary's, Grace, Catie and Tessa are the core while Amaryllis, while still a Mary, is not truly one of the family. Each one is so distinct and the plot so well developed that I hate even saying one word about it because you must read this book!
Just Added: The ideal of all the girls named Mary is not that uncommon. My French - Indian Grandmother was one of seven girls all named Mary and of course they went by their middle names. From what I remember, it was a Catholic thing. There are two girls in my family, but I am the only Mary.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.pattypetrie
Posted February 8, 2011
Christina Meldrum is an exquisite writer. Amaryllis in Blueberry is scintilating, tantalizing and every morsel is pure delight. Her depiction of an American family in Africa is breathtaking and profoundly informative. I could not put the book down.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted January 31, 2011
I loved this book. Meldrum writes in such a clear and compelling way. Her descriptions are lovely and I enjoyed all the references to the 70s. The story moves along at a nice pace and is well thought out. It brought to mind one of my favorite books, "The Secret Life of Bees". Definitely a must read.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.because no one cared about the characters.
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.judithannhillard
Posted March 28, 2011
When compared with the Poisonwood Bible, I could not wait to dig into Amaryllis in Blueberry. Having a sister who married a bush pilot and lived in various parts of Africa for 20 years, having and raising 9 children there and making lifetime friends and saving hearts, souls, bodies, marriages, etc. I just could not have been more disappointed in this book than if it smelled like the VIP's she so aptly describes. Perhaps Meldrum is a story-teller, but why did she feel compelled to tell this story of misshapen love and broken hearts, without the ability to express or show love for even one's own children? And why make the African tribesmen and women sound so totally savage when that is truly not the case, especially with those educated and English-speaking who become friends, and in Poisonwood, lovers and husbands? I could not wait to FINISH it, and that is the opposite of my reaction to most every book I read in any given week. A Thousand Splendid Suns was SO AMAZING, I grieved when it ended. I wanted more. I wanted to KNOW the writer. This one was a dud. I am surprised anyone even published it.
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Amaryllis in Blueberry is an excellent novel that tells the story of one family in the mid 1970s. Seena, Dick, Mary Grace, Mary Tessa, Mary Catherine, and Amaryllis all tell different parts of how they came to be in Africa and what happened while they were there. Each family member has their own secret or problem that slowly comes out as the novel progresses.
This novel was excellent in the way that it brought the image and concept of Africa into the book. It had several mentions of the language and the beliefs of the African people and it merged seamlessly with the perceptions that the family had of Africa and what they thought about it. All of the characters in the novel were three dimensional and most aspects of them that were believable.
At times, it seemed like everyone had one major problem that they had to deal with, and that seemed a little unbelievable - people often have more than one issue going on with them. But overall, the story moved at a good pace and was and excellent read and I would read this novel again!
AAR
Posted February 8, 2011
AMARYLLIS IN BLUEBERRY by Christina Meldrum is a contemporary historical fiction set in 1970's Michigan and Africa.It is written in a series of flashbacks from the past to the present. It intertwines past history/story with present. It has adultery,forgiveness,redemption,love,family saga,murder,meditation of faith,loyalty,love,acceptance,Africa,missionaries,fate,buried secrets,sacrifice,slavery,culture difference,exploration of faith,synesthete(visions of artificial light around someone or something)and truth. This is the story of a husband's(Dick) obsession of his wife,Seena,a wife(Seena) who has committed adultery years before,is accused of her husband's murder and four daughters with four secrets.The youngest daughter,Amaryllis,is the child in question,she was born in an Blueberry patch.This is a compelling story of love and a family being forced from their home in Michigan to take up roots as a missionary in Africa,their trials,tributations and culture shock.If you enjoy a complex story with many facets this is a story for you. This book was received for the purpose of review from Gallery Books and details can be found .0at Gallery Books,a division of Simon & Schuster,Inc. and My Book Addiction and More.
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.iswimforoceans
Posted February 6, 2011
Amaryllis in Blueberry is the captivating tale of a family ripped from their hometown in Michigan and forced to plant missionary roots in rural Africa. Worlds away from their former lives, Dick and his wife, Seena, must somehow bind their family of four daughters, Mary Grace, Mary Tessa, Mary Catherine, and Amaryllis, together once again. They were lost in a world where they were held together by society, but the lack of a set society might just be what they need to find each other again. But the change in life prompts unexpected changes in Seena and propels their unique little family on a journey of discovery, loss, and ultimately truth.
I received Amaryllis in Blueberry from a fellow book blogger to review, and while this isn't my normal type of book to review, I was captivated by the story of this strange family and the pseudo-black sheep, Amaryllis. Amaryllis has this unique ability to sense the truth in a sea of lies and to see a bit of the future and the past all at once, making her into a little web of mystery in a story of this family's journey to discovery. I have to say that Christina Meldrum has an absolutely stunning writing style. Fluid and melodic, she weaves the reader into a world of magic and mystery, showing you slivers of truth along the way and compelling you to keep reading.
While I loved the premise of the story, and the author's writing was exceptional, I have to admit that the descriptiveness got a bit heavy at times, jarring me from the story, itself. Furthermore, while I loved reading about the family as individuals, I felt that the motives that led Dick to move his family from their Michigan home were a bit too light in the context of the story. All that aside though, the portrayal of two vastly different worlds and lifestyles in Amaryllis in Blueberry was exceptional, and was probably the highlight of the book for me. I simply would have liked a bit more tension, I suppose, to propel the book towards the climax.
Amaryllis in Blueberry is definitely more adult than the books I normally read, but I'm trying to broaden my literary horizons and open this blog up to a bit more. All in all, it was a good book, and one that I'd highly recommend to those who normally enjoy adult novels. I give it a 3.5 out of 5, and fans of contemporary fiction are sure to enjoy it.
Anonymous
Posted February 4, 2011
This book swept me into two incredibly diverse worlds -- lush rural Michigan and arid West Africa -- with a contrast that was palpable. The family at the center of the book is filled with remarkable, unique characters that each provides a complex perspective standing alone. Interspersing those characters' perspectives and relating them to their roles within the family is fascinating and insightful. Meldrum then overlays complex issues of comparative religion and culture that keep you thinking and surprised at each step -- forcing you to confront your own assumptions. This is a great follow-up on Meldrum's award-winning first book - Madapple. What a treat!
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Overview
In the tradition of Sue Monk Kidd and Julia Glass comes a stirring and soulful novel about an American woman accused of murdering her husband in Africa and the series of events that led her to that point, compellingly told via the alternating perspectives of her four teenage daughters.Christina Meldrum has already won praise from critics and fans with her young adult novel Madapple, which was an ALA Best Book for Young Readers in 2009 and earned starred reviews across the board. Now, in Amaryllis in Blueberry, her first adult novel, she tells the gripping story of the seemingly ordinary Slepy family—who fled their Midwestern town to do missionary work in a small village Africa. Meldrum ...