Myra was born special. She has her father's eyes, her mother's spirit and a love of the mountains that cannot be tamed. Her grandmother is content to let her run free and make her own decisions, even though the consequences could hurt everyone. And Myra's children have their own problems, brought on by her different way of seeing the world and living in it.
I didn't like Myra. I didn't understand her character and wondered why everyone let her do the things she was doing or didn't try to help her when things were going wrong. It just seemed inconceivable to me that people would know what her situation was and not do something about it. And she's never a sympathetic character. Even though the book revolves around her it never really explores her in depth. We're told a few things, but her children, her grandmother, everyone but her is described better. And her children, they are probably more interesting than Myra but even though part of the book is about them, it's over too quick and back to focusing on Myra's issues.
In a word, this book is depressing. I can't really say that anything joyous happened in it. And it was supposed to be about the rough and tragic lives of people. And it is. And that's it. There's a bit of "mountain" culture and language thrown in it, but I feel like this book could have been set anywhere and had the same instances happen. The themes of abuse, poverty, etc. can be found anywhere, not just in the mountains. But the book bounced around a lot too. It would go back and forth in time and history and to different characters point of view. And it only somewhat tied up loose ends in the story. It just felt unfinished and disorganized to me.
I can't say I recommend it. I know a lot of people seem to like it but for me it wasn't one of the ones that is going to stick with me.
Bloodroot
Copyright 2010
291 pages
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