A mother and her daughters drive for days without sleep until they crash their car in rural Oklahoma. The mother, Amaranth, is desperate to get away from someone she's convinced will follow them wherever they go--her husband. The girls, Amity and Sorrow, can't imagine what the world holds outside their father's polygamous compound. Rescue comes in the unlikely form of Bradley, a farmer grieving the loss of his wife. At first unwelcoming to these strange, prayerful women, Bradley's abiding tolerance gets the best of him, and they become a new kind of family.
Peggy Riley is a writer and playwright living on the North Kent coast.
Reading the synopsis for this book made me very curious how someone would write out a story like this. I must say the story is written very very well and I enjoyed it a lot. Every time I hear about cult groups like this I wonder how people get to do things like this. Looking from the outside everybody says they must be insane and how can they accept living like that. In this story Amaranth, the mother, is the first wife. She has been with Zachariah from the start and she believed in what their original plan was, taking care of woman who where in need of a family. I really admired the way this part of the story was worked out making her choices believable and acceptable. What I really admired too was the behavior and reactions of both Amity and Sorrow. They never lost their part, their ignorance, their trust in their old life and the rules. It was so real for them you could feel their fear and questions popping from the pages. I liked Amity a lot, she really had to struggle between the life she knew and her new experience. I did not really like Sorrow. I feel her behavior made it difficult to connect to her.
This book is very raw and some parts described are very shocking but it did make the story stronger and real. It is not a light sunny afternoon read.
Amity & Sorrow
Author: Peggy Riley
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
ISBN-10: 0316220884
ISBN-13: 9780316220880
Pages: 240
Format: eGally (hardcover ISBN)
Little, Brown and Company: eBook | Hardcover
5 reacties
Write reactiesGood to see that you liked it too. I also thought the story was very believable. I didn't like Sorrow either, but I think that was fine, I don't think she was meant to be liked by the reader.
ReplyI agree with both you and Judith, I didn't like Sorrow either ;) But like J said, I don't think she was supposed to be likable. I liked this book, it was disturbing in a good way.
ReplyGreat review! I'm pretty much with you and everyone who commented in that I didn't like Sorrow either. On the one hand I felt sorry for her because she was just far too indoctrinated to think otherwise but coupled with being a teenager and being stubborn and selfish, I just couldn't care at the end.
ReplyOtherwise, I found the novel pretty compelling and interesting (and disturbing)--couldn't put it down! lol
I saw it in Netgalley, but I wasn't sure if I would like it or not. I see I should have given it a try!
ReplyAnyway, I have "The life list" ;)
This is one of the books I was approved for, but I didn't download it because I didn't receive the email :(
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