The Artist of Blackberry Grange by Paulette Kennedy
The Artist of Blackberry Grange by Paulette Kennedy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Kennedy’s The Artist of Blackberry Grange is an intriguing mix of day-to-day life in a small town in 1925 and the awareness that things are not always what they seem. Sadie Halloran learns that her great-aunt Marguerite, a renowned artist now in the throes of dementia, needs a live-in companion. Sadie packs up and leaves a relationship disaster to become her aunt’s companion.
Marguerite, despite fading health, still paints; her art depicts her old lover. The energy around the paintings has a magic of its own, causing time to shimmer and the past and the present to come together in interesting and scary ways. Sadie finds herself actively engaged with the past through her interactions with the paintings. The events begin to take their toll on her mental and physical well-being. We journey with Sadie through the dark, sometimes dangerous events she either witnesses or participates in.
This is an excellent reading experience; it explores family, love, redemption, and finally finding oneself despite the past.
