This week’s review: THE WEIGHT OF BLOOD by Laura McHugh
There’s nothing I love more than stumbling across a debut novelist who just blows me away. THE WEIGHT OF BLOOD is Laura McHugh’s debut novel and it is gritty, suspenseful, mesmerizing~~and it blew me away!
Set in Henbane, Missouri in the Ozark Mountains where you’re either a local in town or you’re an outsider, this is a story about the disappearance of two women a generation apart and the one girl that is the link to finding out what happened to both of them, even if it means she could lose everything.
Lucy Dane was just a baby when her mother, Lila, disappeared. Lila wasn’t much older than Lucy is now when she went missing. Lila was an outsider in Henbane and never really accepted by the townsfolk but for Carl Dane—he was immediately bewitched. And that was part of the problem about Lila; she had an exotic beauty and an air of mystery about her that made the people in this backwoods town think that she was a witch. Now that Lucy is older and looks just like her mother, she is a constant reminder to the people of Henbane of that unsolved mystery.
Cheri Stoddard is developmentally challenged. She’s slow. And her only friend is Lucy. When Cheri goes missing no one seems to care, except for Lucy. And a year later when Cheri’s body is found mutilated and on display across from the Dane family business, Lucy is determined to find out who did this to Cheri and if it has anything to do with her Mother’s disappearance. Sometimes the truth is a hard pill to swallow. And sometimes the truth can get you into some trouble.
“You grow up feeling the weight of blood, of family. There’s no forsaking kin. But you can’t help when kin forsakes you or when strangers come to be family”
The WEIGHT OF BLOOD is told in alternating narratives between Lucy and Lila. And then about midway through the book we get narratives from some of the other key characters. Though some might think those narratives would muddy the waters of this sordid story, the fact is, they don’t, they enhance it greatly. Watch out for unlikely heroes. And just like in real life, there are characters in this book who are good people that fall into bad circumstances; and bad people who have moments of good. There’s a definite “ick factor” in this book with regard to some of the characters. You’ll need a long, hot shower after reading this one.
4.5 Stars
An ecopy of this book was granted to me by the publisher via NetGalley. The opinions above are expressly my own.
Maryellen is a 48-year-old avid reader, runner, and reviewer who lives near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with her husband Mike and their two rowdy cats. The fact that she has a car named RoxyBlue and has a phone named Janet (Miss Jackson if you’re nasty) are only two of a million reasons why I love her. Couple that with her insight, intelligence, and her always half-full glass of optimism and it makes for an exceptional book reviewer. I am lucky to have the honor of Maryellen allowing me to post her reviews here every Monday.
Sherry Gorman 