Indigo Rose: A Novel

by Susan Beth Miller

From author Susan Beth Miller comes a luminous debut novel in the tradition of Jamaica Kincaid. Emotionally gripping and exquisitely written, Indigo Rose tells the story of one woman’s extraordinary
passage from sorrow to joy–and the uncommon journey that restores her spirit.

When Indigo Rosemartin leaves behind her beloved only child, Louisa, and her homeland of Jamaica to earn a better wage in America, she has no idea just how final her good-bye will be. In Chicago she keeps house for Professor Silver, whose three daughters come to depend on her in the wake of their parents’ crumbling marriage. But when Indigo receives devastating news that is every mother’s worst nightmare, she finds herself without purpose in a wintry, unfamiliar world–her heart hardened even against the girls she has cared for second only to her own.

Stricken, Indigo drifts through her days until she discovers Brother Man’s, a private gambling club run by a charismatic fellow Jamaican. In this smoky, lively place that recalls her island home, Indigo numbs her pain at the roulette table in the company of other lost souls. But as her hunger for diversion threatens to consume her life, she realizes that only by facing down her despair will she ever again feel love.

With mesmerizing prose, an unforgettable heroine, and a vibrantly drawn cast of characters, this powerful tale offers a compelling window into the ways we make peace with the past–and how family, community, and love can open our hearts to the future.

304 pages, Paperback

First published December 28, 2004

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Indigo Rose tells the story of a Jamaican woman who comes to America and finds herself faced with a struggle to recover meaning in her life after an unspeakable personal tragedy. Miller’s narrative presents a moving and convincing first-person account of the main character and immerses us in her history, her culture, and the challenges she faces in the alien world of the U.S. and the American family for whom she works. Miller’s style and language are beautiful and faithful to the character, and they draw the reader, through Indigo Rose’s own vernacular, into her bicultural world in a way that is irresistible, poignant, and uplifting. I highly recommend this book as an opportunity to experience, on a personal and intimate basis, the differences between two cultures and, simultaneously, the universal human struggles that span cultures and encompass us all.

[Barbara Stark-Nemon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Susan Beth Miller’s Indigo Rose is a treasure of a story about a Jamaican woman’s life as a domestic worker in Chicago, and all that she has learned and lost from a simple desire to better her circumstances. Indigo Rosemartin’s authentic voice and keen straightforward observation of her own and others’ behavior give the reader a searing view of the troubled family Indigo works for, and the complicated world of her own past from which she must navigate. This is an honest, compelling and memorable story.