Redemption in Indigo: a novel

Redemption in Indigo is undeniably fantastical, but it more closely resembles a fairy tale or fable than your usual fantasy novel. Based upon a Senegalese folktale, Redemption in Indigo is the wryly humorous account of Paama, a mortal woman who attracts the attention of the djombi, who gift her with the Chaos Stick. However, the original owner of the Chaos Stick is unhappy with this change in ownership.“All my tales are true, drawn from life, and a life story is not a tidy thing.”My favorite thing about Redemption in Indigo was the focus on storytelling and the narrative voice. The unnamed narrator speaks in first person, sometimes addressing the reader directly, mimicking the feel and tradition of oral storytelling. What really makes this work is the subtle humor that shines through the narrator’s voice.“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 isn’t fast paced or packed with action. Instead, it’s a comfortable book. There’s a sense of warmth to it, and wisdom as well. And despite the occasional mentions of modern conveniences, Redemption in Indigo has a sense of timelessness to it.I also liked Paama as a heroine. She’s brave, hard working, and resilient, and she triumphs more due to her determination and strong moral center than to any more typical means. Throughout the story, she’s shown the petty sides of humanity, often embodied in her lazy and gluttonous husband, but she continues to believe in the good in people.Redemption in Indigo is a very different sort of fantasy story, but it is one well worth reading.

Redemption in Indigo is a short novel inspired by African folklore. Paama has left her foolish and gluttonous husband, Ansige, and refuses to return to him. When he tries to win her back and instead makes a complete fool of himself, the djombi (spirits/gods) are so impressed with the way she handles the situation that they give her a gift of great power. But the djombi that it was taken from, the Indigo Lord wants it back, and badly.I love the narrative style of this book – it takes the folktale inspiration and runs with it, it’s just like a storyteller was sitting in the room with you and telling you a story. We meander back and forth in time and point of view, and the narrator is quite opinionated at times. Paama is a terrific heroine, she’s calm, kind, and intuitively knows that the best thing to do with power is not use it. She’s also pragmatic – when the djombi threatens her family and asks her to give him the stick, she immediately hands it over. Of course, things aren’t that simple, since she actually has to believe that he’s the better person to wield it, and that’s the titular “redemption” of the story.On the surface this story seems really simple, but there are a lot of layers and side plots – Anansi’s troubles with tricking people (yes, Anansi’s in this book!), Paama’s self-centered sister and her search for an eligible husband, the extremely competent House of Sisters that help Paama out. There’s not a lot of time spent of these, but they’re full of heart and the author’s deft characterization makes the characters seem like people you know pretty well.Redemption in Indigo is very different from the other Karen Lord book I’ve read, The Best of All Possible Worlds, but it’s just as warm and well-told.

This book has human beings being wonderfully human, and magical sorts of beings beings powerful and wonderfully odd. The whole is a complete and solid story in a fine and mythical voice.

A beautiful story, the ingredients carefully and lovingly thrown into the plot to create a feast for any reader. Karen Lord is a very gifted story teller and we have love and sorrow and redemption and hope and chance.

In our challenging times, it’s good to enter the mythic world and have an inspiriting and imaginative adventure. It’s also refreshing to feel the moral compass pointing in the right direction. Definitely worth the time and money.

This story is incredibly well honed, and beautifully paced. Every word paints a picture of it's world, and leaves you wanting to hear more about it an the characters that live in it. It's also a fantasy story where the magical elements are there to highlight why normal people and their everyday interactions are so interesting.

From the very first sentence to the last Karen Lord had captivated me with her mastery of magic and words.

Karen Lord crafts a wonderful story, with characters that stick with you. The tale moves between numerous locations & relationships, yet is so well written that the reader is never lost. And without giving it away, the end is very satisfying.

I don't know whether Karen Lord has read any books by Neil Gaiman. What I do know is that it feels like she has (perhaps accidentally) written one.Redemption in Indigo is a fairy tale with its own mythology. It does not read like an ornate, pretty, romantic-era literary fairy tale, but a traditional orally told fairy tale that just happens to be quite long. The start and finish allude to this oral tradition.This is the story of a young woman who's run away from her gluttonous husband, and who is given a strange gift by eternal beings - a chaos stick. The chaos stick has been taken from another eternal being, as punishment for his behaviour, and he wants it back.The tale is told with great pace (like all oral narratives), with characters sketched in such vivid and economical ways that they manage to own the stage when they're on it, and moments and scenes that could belong in any folk tale. Some bits are episodic: her gluttonous husband has three misadventures when visiting her village, the mysterious eternal lord shows her three things... just like old folk tales, there are elements of repetition and archetypal characters and episodes.The setting appears to be Africa, but the era is cheerfully uncertain, giving the tale a certain timelessness.Comparisons with Neil Gaiman's work were occasionally on my mind for a number of reasons. One was the Trickster - the spider, Nancy, the same trickster God that appeared in  American Gods  and  Anansi Boys , who is not a very common character in Western / European narratives and whom not many readers might know about. The other reason is the shadowy eternal beings that are having duties and a conflict and that, in so many ways, are a bit like the Endless from the  Sandman Slipcase Set: 1-10  series. So the story feels a little bit like what would happen if you squeeze Sandman through American Gods and Anansi Boys and filter it via  Stardust  (Neil Gaiman's fairy tale for adults): beautiful, sweet, with depth and richness and a real sense of stories and myths. If Karen Lord has not read any Neil Gaiman works, she has somehow managed to distill his lighter essence into a short novel through sheer magic. (Redemption in Indigo is not as dark as some of Gaiman's stories get).I'd never heard of this novel or author before, but I am an instant fan. It was an absolute delight to read and I'd recommend this book to anyone. American GodsAnansi BoysSandman Slipcase Set: 1-10Stardust

This was a very enchanting tale and an enjoyable read. The author has incorporated an interesting collection characters nicely into this story. Some of the writing is truly excellent, as in chapter 20 where the story teller relates the heroines culinary skills:"I have heard tales of how magnificently she can cook. I could relate for you a description of a morsel of her honey-almond cake, a delicacy which is light enough to melt on the tip of the tongue and yet it lingers on the palate with its subtle flavours long into the dream-filled reaches of the night. I could sing the praises, secondhand, alas, of her traveller's soup, a concoction of smoothly blended and balanced vegetables and herbs guaranteed to put heart and strength back into the bones of the weariest voyager.... I have just this moment recalled a certain jar that sits in her kitchen, filled with dried fruit steeping in spice spirit, red wine, cinnamon, and nutmeg, patiently awaiting that day months or even years hence when it will be baked into a festival cake that will turn the head of the most seasonal toper."A great page turner which I would gladly recommend.

I took this book on holiday - it started out really great but then got a little bizarre for my taste. At the beginning I thought it would be a five star read but it turned out not to be. The ending was good though. So if the book comprised just the beginning and the ending I would have enjoyed it a whole lot more.

I am not sure what it is about Karen Lord's fairy tale style of writing that so draws me in, it is certainly not the usual sort of book I read which is much harder sci-fi and fantasy, but once you start reading you'll find it hard to walk away.

A different kind of storytelling - light hearted folk-lore that is full of humour.