This book is emotionally gripping, thought-provoking, frightening and beautiful. It’s a great mystery, and a statement of how overpowering and destructive spiritual fanaticism can be. Meldrum doesn’t demand that readers accept any specific religious or mythical belief. Even so, the characters make some devastating demands upon each other. Sanne and her Christian fundamentalist mom are by far the most aggressive with their faith, and scariest. The teenage narrator, Aslaug, has plenty of whacked out insecurities that make her a magnet for scary. And even though Aslaug's mom dies within the first 70 pages, she’s plenty scary in both flashback and lingering influences. Who killed whom – did anyone kill anybody? Those are the most immediate concerns of the plot. I found myself anxiously anticipating the alternating chapters of trial transcript. I wanted to know Aslaug’s criminal fate, at least as much as I wanted to know the spiritual fate of all the impossibly twisted characters. The flashback chapters are crammed with lore – both natural and mystical. There’s a lot of botany to keep up with. I can remember what jimsonweed does, and what milkwort doesn’t do. But the 50 gazillion varieties of tea are a bit more than I can recall offhand. Even so, the information is well-integrated into the plot. As for the mystic, this book provides an open-minded contrast to the Dan Brown school of “What Jesus Really Did” spiritual mega-thriller. People are torn apart by all sorts of hopes and prayers, but there’s no perfect revelation to explain the universe away. In comparison to everything else, the ending is abrupt and tightly packaged. Most of the surprises have already been hinted at or resolved. The resolution could almost be considered pedestrian: but I’m not so quick to set aside all the psychosexual spiritual ick that Aslaug and her relations have slogged through. This story is going to take a while to clear my system. Un libro particolare, sicuramente poco young e più adult... Peccato per gli alti e bassi narrativi, causati dall'alternarsi di capitoli quasi onirici (il rapporto tra la protagonista e sua madre, e la sua vita in generale in un contesto unico ed isolato) ad altri brutalmente reali. Tutto sommato però la storia ha una certa unicità e fonde molto bene degli aspetti mitologici con le umane necessità.
Do You like book Madapple. Il Veleno Più Dolce (2009)?
Good writing. The ending was unsatisfying and left unanswered questions.
—Duaa
