Blue...A Review...

Product Description from Amazon…

Do not begin this novel unless you are prepared to be moved, willing to open your heart, and available to the possibility that life can bring you magic. Chris Astor is a man in his early forties who is going through the toughest stretch of his life. Not long before, Chris' world sparkled - he was doing significant work, he had a good home, and his young daughter brought him more joy than he ever could have imagined. Now, divorce and estrangement have left him confused and all too often alone. Becky is Chris' fourteen-year-old daughter, a girl who overcame enormous challenges in her early years to become a vibrant, vital young woman. Her parents' divorce has left its mark, though, most significantly in her relationship with her father. Once, they told remarkable stories together. Now, they barely speak. Emotional detachment from Chris is not Becky's biggest concern, though. Miea is the young queen of a fantasy land that Becky and Chris created when Becky was little - a fantasy land that has developed a life of its own. Miea knows nothing of Becky and Chris. She only knows that her beautiful kingdom - a place of remarkably varied flora, dignified and distinctive fauna, and an ecology that works in symphonic majesty - is in terrible, maybe fatal trouble. At the most challenging junctures of their lives, Becky and Miea discover each other and Miea shares this discovery with Chris. For Becky, it is nearly inconceivable that a place she created has come into existence. For Miea, it is nearly inconceivable that a child created her land. For Chris, it is beyond inconceivable that he is again sharing something important in his daughter's life. For all of them, it as though a world of opportunity has opened up before them. But time is not on their side. In fact, time might be running out. Together, they need to uncover a secret. The secret to why these worlds have joined at this moment. The secret to their purpose. The secret to the future. It is a secret that, when discovered, will redefine imagination for all of them.

Blue is a novel of trial and hope, invention and rediscovery. It might very well take you someplace you never knew existed. Do not, however, begin it unless you are prepared to be moved.

My thoughts…

I just finished reading this most beautiful and unusual novel. It sort of reminds me of the movie Avatar. Nothing specifically, just sort of the aura of it. When I was first reading it I thought that it was a father’s story. Then a few chapters later I thought it was a daughter’s story. A few chapters after that it became an amazing fantasy. And then three quarters of the way through I realized it was all of the above. Chris, the father, was mourning the loss of being with his daughter Becky due to the break up of his marriage. Becky was confused about the situation and was fourteen and was spending her allotted time with her father but separating from him, too. They had been very close and Chris was at a loss as to how to get this closeness back. When Becky and Chris made up the world of Tamarisk it was to help Becky get through a difficult time. Becky needs Tamarisk back again and Chris helps her to achieve that goal. Becky begins to go to Tamarisk and interact with the people there. She especially loves being with Miea who was the Princess when Becky was little but now Miea is the Queen. On one of her trips to Tamarisk Becky learns that there is trouble in Tamarisk. Plants are dying and no one knows why. Becky enlists her father…who is a botanist…to help her.

I cannot even begin to describe what Tamarisk looks like. The descriptions in the book make Tamarisk come alive. I wanted to taste fenigers and drink barritts and ride a waccasassa over the bloat marshes. I want to listen to the music of all the amazing birdlike creatures that Becky and Chris had made up in their stories years and years ago. I loved being able to see Tamarisk. It was magical and lovely and it felt real. I wanted Becky to help Miea and I wanted everyone to live happily ever after.

I won’t tell you if they did or not but I will say that we all have a different idea of happy. I ultimately think that Becky and Chris and Miea are each happy in their own way.

I loved how the author dealt with reality and fantasy in Blue. It is a lovely story and it has stayed with me. The ending was deliciously sweet and I cried…not so much for the sadness but for its purity and beauty.

I truly loved reading this magical novel.