“The impish love child of Tutuola and Marquez. Utterly delightful.”—Nalo Hopkinson
Karen Lord’s debut novel, which won the prestigious Frank Collymore Literary Prize in Barbados, is an intricately woven tale of adventure, magic, and the power of the human spirit.
Paama’s husband is a fool and a glutton. Bad enough that he followed her to her parents’ home in the village of Makende, now he’s disgraced himself by murdering livestock and stealing corn. When Paama leaves him for good, she attracts the attention of the undying ones—the djombi—who present her with a gift: the Chaos Stick, which allows her to manipulate the subtle forces of the world. Unfortunately, a wrathful djombi with indigo skin believes this power should be his and his alone.
Bursting with humor and rich in fantastic detail, Redemption in Indigo is a clever, contemporary fairy tale that introduces readers to a dynamic new voice in Caribbean literature. Lord’s world of spider tricksters and indigo immortals, inspired in part by a Senegalese folk tale, will feel instantly familiar—but Paama’s adventures are fresh, surprising, and utterly original.
"Fantasy as a genre does not have boundaries," writes Lord. "It has roots. You may call it fantasy. I call it life."
Karen Lord was born in Barbados in 1968. She holds a science degree from the University of Toronto and a PhD in the sociology of religion from the University of Wales.
Industry Reviews
"This is one of those literary works of which it can be said that not a word should be changed."
-Booklist *Starred Review*
"Lord's debut, a retelling of a Senegalese folktale, packs a great deal of subtly alluring storytelling into this small package."
-Publishers Weekly *Starred Review*
"Adventure, mystery, familial relations, discourse of power, ananse, the spirit world."-Kamau Brathwaite (Born to Slow Horses)
"Drawing on a multicultural melange of narrative traditions-both oral and written-this Barbadian author surprises. She tap dances across the conventional, using it to make spirited sounds."
-Foreword Reviews
"Lord weaves fantasy into an implied history of the world to reflect on the use of power and human choice."--Carl Brandon Society Blog
