GREAT READS

Bloodroot

Amy Greene.

A beautiful book that haunts you long after you put it down, Bloodroot is one of the most memorable novels I've read in quite a while. Told from various perspectives, it reveals the intertwined histories of the inhabitants of Bloodroot Mountain, a lush and wild space in the Appalachian foothills. The heart of the story lies in the character of Myra Jean Lamb, who is raised by her doting Granny on the mountain after her hell-raising parents die in a car wreck on the train tracks. Myra is as wild as the mountain itself, and leaves a little bit of her magic everywhere she goes, until she herself is bewitched by the brooding, dark John Odom who spirits her away from her mountain, and essentially, her soul. Author Amy Greene is a master of capturing mountain dialect and lifestyle, leaving behind an all at once heartbreaking and inspiring masterpiece.

Recommended by Rachel DeBusk