Redemption in Indigo: a novel
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Description
Karen Lord’s debut novel won the prestigious Frank Collymore Literary Prize in Barbados, the Mythopeic, Carl Brandon Parallax, and Crawford Awards. It is an intricately woven tale of adventure, magic, and the power of the human spirit.
Paama’s husband is a fool and a glutton. Bad enough that he followed her to her parents’ home in the village of Makende, now he’s disgraced himself by murdering livestock and stealing corn. When Paama leaves him for good, she attracts the attention of the undying ones—the djombi—who present her with a gift: the Chaos Stick, which allows her to manipulate the subtle forces of the world. Unfortunately, a wrathful djombi with indigo skin believes this power should be his and his alone.
Bursting with humor and rich in fantastic detail, Redemption in Indigo is a clever, contemporary fairy tale that introduces readers to a dynamic new voice in Caribbean literature. Lord’s world of spider tricksters and indigo immortals, inspired in part by a Senegalese folk tale, will feel instantly familiar—but Paama’s adventures are fresh, surprising, and utterly original.
"Fantasy as a genre does not have boundaries," writes Lord. "It has roots. You may call it fantasy. I call it life.”
Book Information
Posts
I was recommended this book by GR because I liked "Alif the Unseen", unfortunately Redemption in Indigo doesn't come close to the reaction that I had with Alif. It's a retelling of an African folk tale and since I don't know the original, it's hard for me to evaluate it against it. What really bothered me with the book was the omniscient narrator and the narration style in general. At times it felt like the author wanted to modernize the folk tale and if this was the goal, I didn't think it was implemented successful.
Description
Karen Lord’s debut novel won the prestigious Frank Collymore Literary Prize in Barbados, the Mythopeic, Carl Brandon Parallax, and Crawford Awards. It is an intricately woven tale of adventure, magic, and the power of the human spirit.
Paama’s husband is a fool and a glutton. Bad enough that he followed her to her parents’ home in the village of Makende, now he’s disgraced himself by murdering livestock and stealing corn. When Paama leaves him for good, she attracts the attention of the undying ones—the djombi—who present her with a gift: the Chaos Stick, which allows her to manipulate the subtle forces of the world. Unfortunately, a wrathful djombi with indigo skin believes this power should be his and his alone.
Bursting with humor and rich in fantastic detail, Redemption in Indigo is a clever, contemporary fairy tale that introduces readers to a dynamic new voice in Caribbean literature. Lord’s world of spider tricksters and indigo immortals, inspired in part by a Senegalese folk tale, will feel instantly familiar—but Paama’s adventures are fresh, surprising, and utterly original.
"Fantasy as a genre does not have boundaries," writes Lord. "It has roots. You may call it fantasy. I call it life.”
Book Information
Posts
I was recommended this book by GR because I liked "Alif the Unseen", unfortunately Redemption in Indigo doesn't come close to the reaction that I had with Alif. It's a retelling of an African folk tale and since I don't know the original, it's hard for me to evaluate it against it. What really bothered me with the book was the omniscient narrator and the narration style in general. At times it felt like the author wanted to modernize the folk tale and if this was the goal, I didn't think it was implemented successful.