Amity & Sorrow

by Peggy Riley

AMITY & SORROW is a story about God, sex, and farming. It's THE LOVELY BONES meets WITNESS: an unforgettable journey into the horrors a true believer can inflict upon his family, and what it is like to live when the end of the world doesn't come.

In the wake of a suspicious fire, Amaranth gathers her barely-teenage daughters, Amity and Sorrow, and flees from the cult her husband ran. After four days of driving, Amaranth crashes the car, leaving the family stranded at a gas station. Rescue comes in the unlikely form of a downtrodden farmer, a man who offers sanctuary when the women need it most.
AMITY & SORROW is the story of these remarkable women, their lives before the night they fled, and their heartbreaking, hopeful future. For, while Amity blossoms in this new world, Sorrow will move heaven and earth trying to get back home.
And, meanwhile, the outside world hasn't forgotten about the fire on the compound.

• ISBN10: 0316220876
• ISBN13: 9780316220873
• Publish Date: 4 February 2014 (first published 1 January 2013)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Little, Brown & Company
• Imprint: Back Bay Books
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 336
• Language: English

Reviews

[Jane]

What comes of children raised in polygamous cults who are then cut out—from all they know?

When I noticed this book on the shelf, I was drawn to the turquoise spine—beautiful and calming. The two girls on the front cover, in their dresses and hair down, looking on at a fire interested me. "Is home where the heart is?" the tagline asks, as if ripping my own heart out with it and forcing me to choose all over again. I read the blurb on the back, and flipped through it, considering it for a moment. I'd bought three books already, from the other Dollar Tree that day; I didn't need another, but this one intrigued me, making me want to know more. So I bought it. I read it. Now, the story haunts my thoughts.

How can such beautiful writing tell such a sad, chilling story?

Full review: http://janepedia.com/amity-sorrow/

[Lianne]

I was approved to read a galley copy of this novel from Netgalley. Amity & Sorrow may be a fairly slim volume but it touches on a lot of heavy issues such as polygamy, freedom of religion, cult-like extremity (for lack of a better word) and letting go of the past. It's not an easy read as there are a lot of implications about the lives they had led prior to their escape. The author's writing is lyrical in the way it describes the thoughts and experiences that the characters are going through.

The characters were also interesting and the way that they adjust to their new situation. I was however frustrated at times with the novel, mainly with Sorrow's characterisation. On the one hand I could not blame her for acting the way that she did given the way that she was raised but on the other hand it was hard to sympathise with her, especially as she didn't have a POV of her own in the novel.

Amity & Sorrow is a fascinating novel looking at the psychological effects of breaking out of a cult and re-adjusting to the world outside. I actually rated this novel as a 3.5 out of 5 and recommend this novel to readers who like reading contemporary fiction and those who are curious about the following subject matter that this novel touches upon.

My complete review of the novel was originally posted at eclectictales.com: http://www.eclectictales.com/blog/2013/04/27/review-amity-sorrow/