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Red Weather (Volume 71)
And how it had happened she wasn’t sure, except that she knew she had leaned toward him, turned her face up toward his and he had stopped, keys in hand, from unlocking the car door. He had looked at her for a long moment, but she had kissed him. Of that she was sure.
“It’s up to you,” he said when they broke apart. “You must know I want you to come up.”
They kissed again and then they leaned together. His hair smelled like wood. “Stay or go,” he said.
“Stay,” she said in a small voice in his left ear.
Against the backdrop of Central American politics, this suspenseful first novel from award-winning poet Janet McAdams explores the journey from loss to possibility, from the secrets of the past to the longings of the present.
“It’s up to you,” he said when they broke apart. “You must know I want you to come up.”
They kissed again and then they leaned together. His hair smelled like wood. “Stay or go,” he said.
“Stay,” she said in a small voice in his left ear.
Against the backdrop of Central American politics, this suspenseful first novel from award-winning poet Janet McAdams explores the journey from loss to possibility, from the secrets of the past to the longings of the present.
- GenresIndigenousFiction
190 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2012
1 person is currently reading
95 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
May 20, 2013
Really excited to teach this book, because it covers so much interesting and overlooked history--the forced sterilization of Native women, the American Indian Movement and political radicalism, U.S. interference in Central American wars, "racial passing," domestic violence, and more. And for all that dark difficult history, it's a great read, with a complicated, compelling protagonist and a cast of mysterious characters. I admire Janet McAdams so much, for writing a story that hasn't already been told--exactly what you want from great fiction.
June 16, 2012
The 1980s were a time of revolution and counterrevolution in Central America. Most Americans ignored these wars and their own country's part in them. A few took positions on one side or the other; fewer still learned very much about what was going on. Janet McAdams went to see for herself.
Her time teaching at the American School in El Salvador provided background for this novel, as did her research on the forced sterilization of Native women in the United States. Another writer might have made this material into a crude polemic, but McAdams' insight into her characters' moral dilemmas allowed her to make this novel into something far more interesting.
Read the book. You won't regret it.
Her time teaching at the American School in El Salvador provided background for this novel, as did her research on the forced sterilization of Native women in the United States. Another writer might have made this material into a crude polemic, but McAdams' insight into her characters' moral dilemmas allowed her to make this novel into something far more interesting.
Read the book. You won't regret it.
July 1, 2012
A fascinating premise: a young woman of Creek descent travels to Central America to find out what happened to her parents who disappeared during the height of the AIM movement for political reasons. The current backdrop of U.S. foreign policy and war in C.A. during the 1980s adds another suspenseful dimension as the protagonists befriends "suspicious" ex-pats there. The novel is worth reading but disappoints in its structure and less-than-graceful movement from past to present and back again. Also, the ending leaves a lot unexplained. But I can count on one hand how many novels confront the politics of this time period, especially the fallout from the AIM movement.
April 21, 2013
Fascinating novel about a woman of Creek descent in Central America during the dirty wars of the 1980s.
February 25, 2022
The book was a 6/10. The writing was really great and creative, but the storyline got very pointless as the protagonist did not really give more insight on her mission. I wish the book would have dived deeper into the emotional abuse from her ex husband and life in central America.
August 24, 2012
Janet McAdams’ suspenseful debut novel is a lyrical portrayal of a woman’s search for herself in the guise of her search for long-missing parents, who had fled imminent arrest for their involvement in a 1970s nonviolent Native American protest action that went wrong. Her protagonist, Neva, has lived in the South all her life, passing as white in fear of what might happen to her if those around her realize she’s part-Creek. Even her controlling, abusive husband never knew until the one person in whom she confided told him.
As her desperation to be free of this narcissistic husband and her loss of self grows, Neva discovers a clue to the possible whereabouts of her parents and flees her life in Atlanta to seek them in the tiny, war-torn country of Coatepeque in Central America. She finds work teaching the children of the wealthy elite, love with a sensitive man of shadowy connections, and friends for whom she can care and make a commitment. As the chaotic war around her escalates, Neva faces danger and heartbreak on all sides.
Surrounded by violence and havoc, she begins to remake herself as a whole person.
Within Neva’s perspective, we move back and forth in time and space from her memories of her parents’ increasing commitment to activism as they learn of the heartrending forced sterilization of Native women in the United States to the constantly escalating battle the wealthy elite wage against the surrounding Indigenous populace in Coatepeque to memories of her husband’s selfishness and cruel domination, the personal version of these other large-scale attacks on Indigenous peoples. Her eloquent prose guides us through these transitions, and her beautifully rendered characters and places lure us on in this journey from grief and longing to the potential of a new life.
One of our most compelling and imaginative poets, McAdams weaves a spell of loss, forgiveness, and redemption that will grip the reader’s mind long after the last page is read.
As her desperation to be free of this narcissistic husband and her loss of self grows, Neva discovers a clue to the possible whereabouts of her parents and flees her life in Atlanta to seek them in the tiny, war-torn country of Coatepeque in Central America. She finds work teaching the children of the wealthy elite, love with a sensitive man of shadowy connections, and friends for whom she can care and make a commitment. As the chaotic war around her escalates, Neva faces danger and heartbreak on all sides.
Surrounded by violence and havoc, she begins to remake herself as a whole person.
Within Neva’s perspective, we move back and forth in time and space from her memories of her parents’ increasing commitment to activism as they learn of the heartrending forced sterilization of Native women in the United States to the constantly escalating battle the wealthy elite wage against the surrounding Indigenous populace in Coatepeque to memories of her husband’s selfishness and cruel domination, the personal version of these other large-scale attacks on Indigenous peoples. Her eloquent prose guides us through these transitions, and her beautifully rendered characters and places lure us on in this journey from grief and longing to the potential of a new life.
One of our most compelling and imaginative poets, McAdams weaves a spell of loss, forgiveness, and redemption that will grip the reader’s mind long after the last page is read.
June 11, 2012
Covers just about everything that happened during the dirty wars of the 1980s in Central America, you name it, with an interesting angle around native American activism around the same time (which was new to me). Combined with the main character's self-esteem and identity issues, it's an engaging emotional (and physical) journey. McAdams does a nice job evoking Guatemala/El Salvador/Yucatan Mexico in the fictional country of Coatepequen.
June 23, 2012
I liked this one very much. The personal evolution/external revolution themes were handled deftly, and the whole portrait of a place and the relationships taking place within and without it were strong and vivid.
April 20, 2013
I'm evangelizing this novel and urge all to read it. I've already sent it to the usual suspects all of whom have reported in with jubilant appreciation.
September 22, 2012
For a full review, and to enter the giveaway for a copy of this book, check out my blog: http://cliffordgarstang.com/?p=3247
February 23, 2016
Unreadable prose. Was assigned this in a Contemporary Writers course and could not stomach it past page 30. Pretentious, navel-gazing tripe.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews