The Weight of Blood: A Novel Author: Laura Mchugh | Language: English | ISBN:
B00F8FA30E | Format: EPUB
The Weight of Blood: A Novel Description
For fans of Gillian Flynn, Scott Smith, and Daniel Woodrell comes a gripping, suspenseful novel about two mysterious disappearances a generation apart. The town of Henbane sits deep in the Ozark Mountains. Folks there still whisper about Lucy Dane’s mother, a bewitching stranger who appeared long enough to marry Carl Dane and then vanished when Lucy was just a child. Now on the brink of adulthood, Lucy experiences another loss when her friend Cheri disappears and is then found murdered, her body placed on display for all to see. Lucy’s family has deep roots in the Ozarks, part of a community that is fiercely protective of its own. Yet despite her close ties to the land, and despite her family’s influence, Lucy—darkly beautiful as her mother was—is always thought of by those around her as her mother’s daughter. When Cheri disappears, Lucy is haunted by the two lost girls—the mother she never knew and the friend she couldn’t save—and sets out with the help of a local boy, Daniel, to uncover the mystery behind Cheri’s death.
What Lucy discovers is a secret that pervades the secluded Missouri hills, and beyond that horrific revelation is a more personal one concerning what happened to her mother more than a decade earlier.
The Weight of Blood is an urgent look at the dark side of a bucolic landscape beyond the arm of the law, where a person can easily disappear without a trace. Laura McHugh proves herself a masterly storyteller who has created a harsh and tangled terrain as alive and unforgettable as the characters who inhabit it. Her mesmerizing debut is a compelling exploration of the meaning of family: the sacrifices we make, the secrets we keep, and the lengths to which we will go to protect the ones we love.
Praise for The Weight of Blood “A fantastic novel, rich in character and atmosphere . . . This is one you won’t want to miss.”
—Karin Slaughter, author of Unseen “Laura McHugh’s vivid and enthralling
The Weight of Blood centers on a mother and daughter in a seemingly benign yet deeply horrifying small town. It kept me on the edge of my seat from the first page to the last.”
—Vanessa Diffenbaugh, author of The Language of Flowers “
The Weight of Blood pulled me in and wouldn’t let go. What starts as Lucy’s coming-of-age story becomes a chilling tale about the price of secrets. As the menace deepens, so does the tension. Laura McHugh has written a terrific novel.”
—Meg Gardiner, Edgar Award–winning author of The Shadow Tracer “McHugh’s debut is as lush and evocative as its Ozark setting, with luminous prose and characters you can’t help rooting for, even as the mystery surrounding them intensifies and the odds against them grow more and more harrowing. I couldn’t put it down.”
—Carla Buckley, author of The Deepest Secret “In this clever, multilayered debut, McHugh deftly explores the past of an Ozark Mountain family . . . with plenty to hide and the ruthlessness to keep their secrets hidden. . . . This is an outstanding first novel, replete with suspense, crisp dialogue, and vivid Ozarks color and atmosphere.”
—Publishers Weekly “Debut novelist McHugh comes out swinging with this gripping tale set in the Ozarks of Missouri. . . . Her prose will not only keep readers turning the pages but also paints a real and believable portrait of the connections, alliances, and sacrifices that underpin rural, small-town life in Henbane.”
—Library Journal (starred review)- File Size: 1290 KB
- Print Length: 322 pages
- Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0812995201
- Publisher: Spiegel & Grau (March 11, 2014)
- Sold by: Random House LLC
- Language: English
- ASIN: B00F8FA30E
- Text-to-Speech: Enabled
X-Ray:
- Lending: Not Enabled
- Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #571 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
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in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Literary Fiction > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
I had a very good feeling about this debut novel and I was correct. Inspired by a true incident, this author crafts a powerful story that draws you into hidden secrets. The chapters alternate between seventeen year old Lucy Dane in the present and her mother Lila, during the short time she lived in Henbane, Missouri. Towards the end of the book, chapters are also narrated by familiar residents of the town, who let us in on the details of the story that only they are privy to.
Lucy Dane is saddened when her friend/neighbor, Cheri is found dead after a years time, stuffed into the hollow of a tree. Cheri was cognitively impaired and Lucy was nice to her even though "she had outgrown her in certain ways". While Cheri's death is initially the talk of the town, the fervor quickly abates and she is forgotten. Lucy, however, is unable to let go as easily, as Cheri's death evokes another disappearance, that of her mother Lila. Lucy has no memory of the mother who she is told loved her very much but disappeared when she was 1 year old. Lucy has a hard time believing that it was depression that lead her mother to enter a cave with a shotgun and never return. Lucy's father, Carl has never remarried or gotten over his wife's disappearance. He is fighting his own battles with the past. He is protective of Lucy and it's a big deal when he allows the 17 year old to work at her uncle Crete's store. The job brings Lucy in close contact with a boy from her high school that she has a crush on. When her Uncle Crete asks the two of them to clean one of his abandoned trailers and Lucy finds a necklace that belonged to Cheri, the present and the past collide.
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