Based on a Senagalese folk tale, Redemption in Indigo follows a similar quirky story telling style to weave an intricate and sweet little story about a woman named Paama. Paama is the elder of two daughters, married to a not-overly-impressive lord. The match seemed like it would work well enough, though, since Paama is an exceptional cook and Ansige loves food. But after ten years of feeding his insatiable maw, Paama has had enough and returns home to her family. Ansige follows with his moronic

I've been meaning to read something by Karen Lord for a while. For some reason, the fact that a group I participate in a lot on GR is reading one of her other books (which I also own) next month made me read this one. I won't question it too much, because I enjoyed this a lot. It's a short/quick read, and it's different: it isn't at all your run of the mill fantasy. I read it without knowing any of the background stuff about it being based on a Senegalese story, and I don't regret that -- instea...

I read this for r/Fantasy bingo because I needed something for the "retelling" square. I am so glad I picked this one!I really liked the beginning and the ending of this. The middle, I admit, was a little duller and I got bored a couple of times. But not nearly enough to stop reading. One of the things I loved about this was the narrator's storyteller voice. The narrator is funny, fun, and there to chat you up. The story itself was a nice unfolding of story after story.

Lord mentions that chapters two through four are loosely based on a Senegalese folk tale, and the entire book has that same feel. From the very first page, Lord creates the illusion not of turning the pages, but of sitting back and listening to a master storyteller, one who has no compunctions about addressing the audience directly. It’s a voice that works perfectly for Paama’s story.I loved this book, and to be honest, I’m having a hard time figuring out what to say about it, beyond the fact th...

“Everything teaches, everyone preaches, all have a gospel to sell! Better the one who is honest and open in declaring an agenda than the one who fools you into believing that they are only spinning a pretty fancy for beauty’s sake.” Spoilers follow, as well as a discussion of eating disorders.So What’s It About? (from Goodreads)“Paama’s husband is a fool and a glutton. Bad enough that he followed her to her parents’ home in the village of Makendha—now he’s disgraced himself by murdering livestoc...

The prose in this book has a gentleness that makes it a real delight to read, especially in the beginning.Without spoilers, I'll say that this story starts as a kind of Senegal-inspired folk tale but quickly shapeshifts and goes to surprising places. As a story, it's a little inconsistent and full of often-passive characters, but at the same time, it's also made of several connected tales that spin together dazzlingly, even again, if they never quite form a whole.But when it shines, it shines, a...

4.5 starsThis is a fable, almost a fantasy with an all knowing narrator/story teller. I must admit I am sometimes wary of fantasies (remember The Alchemist!!), but I enjoyed this one. It is a reworking of a Senegalese tale, “Ansige Karamba the Glutton”, the main protagonist being Paama, his wife. She is driven away by his greed and selfishness and returns to her family home. She is noticed by the djombi (undying ones), some of whom gives her the Chaos Stick, a totem that has some power. However,...

This has been a book I've meant to read for ages and I'm so glad I finally got to it. It is exactly what I needed right now--fun, hopeful, playful, and whimsical. Just delightful.CONTENT WARNINGS (pretty mild this time!): (view spoiler)[ loss of a loved one, spiders, plague, sexism. (hide spoiler)]Things to love:-The writing style. It's basically a "transcribed" oral retelling and gosh it worked beautifully for me in this context. It hit all the right beats for the moments being described, and

There is a point in Redemption in Indigo when the omniscient narrator says that “tales are meant to be an inspiration, not a substitute”. It is a meaningful line and one that sticks around longer than expected. It is one line among many others within this novel that provokes the reader and stimulates a certain level of engagement about the nature of storytelling and reader’s expectation. It is also an appropriately self-descriptive line because Redemption in Indigo is inspiring.The story draws i...

“You must never tell people their own stories. They have no interest in them, or they think they can tell them better themselves. Give them a stranger's life, and then they're content.” Redemption in Indigo, Karen Lord's debut novel, takes a Senegalese fable and gives it a new stroke of life. The story centers around a girl named Paama, who, after escaping her gluttonous husband, is given a gift by immortal deities, called djombi, a stick called the "Chaos Stick" which gives her the power to in

A magical read, not surprised it won so many prizes. It's a sort of fairytale with an oral-tradition feel narration, about a woman who is briefly given the power of chaos when the spirit of Chance stops doing his job properly. Wise, funny, immensely readable, written with deceptive simplicity: if you like T Kingfisher, or books that centre human decency without ever being rose-tinted, you'll love this.

What I loved: A better question is what didn't I love. The authorial voice for one just instantly pulled me in from the first paragraph which I can honestly say rarely happens for me. I loved the humor and satire that is sprinkled thru ought. I adored the ending and the journey that Paama goes on. This story was really so close to perfect for me, I bought a copy so I can re-read it. Recommendation: If you like humor in your stories and want a Caribbean based fantasy with an amazing story and

http://www.rantingdragon.com/redempti...Redemption in Indigo is the debut novel from Barbadian writer Karen Lord (I did have to Google how to refer to someone from Barbados). It has won several literary awards that are unfamiliar to me, including the Crawford Award for best fantasy novel by a new writer. Redemption in Indigo was also chosen as one of Amazon’s Top 10 science fiction and fantasy books of 2010 and has been nominated for the Locus Award.I feel woefully unqualified to review this boo...

What a lukewarm cup of "meh." After all of the stellar reviews, I just knew this was going to be ah-may-zing, but, alas, it's basically a fable. Ever since Paulo Coelho's New Agey-craptastic The Alchemist, me + fables = nervous twitch. Because I start to develop a Community's Jeff Winger like aversion to the feeling that someone's trying to teach me something--and I never learn anything! This didn't turn out to be as didactic as The Alchemist because it's more focused on the storytelling than on...

Lord is a Caribbean author who weaves a Senegalese folk tale into a somewhat modern retelling. Not having read the original folktale, I'm not sure where one leaves off and another begins, but the story of Paama ("she could cook") and her foolish glutton husband was an easy and entertaining read.All of these quotations are food related, a placeholder for when I bake something Senegalese."[Paama] could cook. An inadequate statement. Anyone can cook, but the true talent belongs to those who are cap...

What a magical wicked read. This book is a strikingly new folktale written for grownups. The story line is very enchanting moving between different locations, characters, relationships, Gods, it’s very whimsical. The author honed a well rounded characters and events that explore themes of hope, redemption and resilience after experiencing trauma. This book exhibits features of a genre called Africanfuturism or Afrofuturism. It basically means “a way of imagining possible futures through a black

Also available on the WondrousBooks blog. Not the best book from my adventures around the world, but definitely an interesting one. It was pretty tough to decide which country to put Redemption in Indigo for, as the author is from Barbados, but the book is based on Senegalese folklore. Ultimately, I decided to go with the author's home country and opt for another Senegalese book in the future, hopefully one, written by an author whose native country is Senegal.Redemption in Indigo is a short

So, I was out of town this weekend and found this book available as an audio file from my local library. I chose this one because it was only 6 hours long and because it fits many fantasy bingo categories (magical realism, fantasy that isn't western culture, under 3k reviews, book published in the 2000s). Anyway - if I had been reading this as an actual book, I would have quit, but since I had nothing else to do for my 10 hour round trip drive I persevered just so I could check off one of the mo...

4.5 stars.This was pretty much perfect from beginning to end. From its knowing, humourous narration to the ridiculous husband to the long-suffering, creative, gentle and wonderful Paama, and to its terrific ending.I'm definitely rereading this.

Redemption in Indigo is Karen Lord’s interpretation/extension of a Senegalese folktale. We begin with the gluttonous Ansige tracking down his wife Paama, who had left him; after being tricked and humiliated three times by djombi (spirit creatures, ‘gods’), Ansige takes his leave. That’s where the traditional folktale ends. Lord then continues Paama’s story by having a djombi present her with the Chaos Stick, an artefact which can manipulate the small possibilities of chaos – and Paama uses it wi...