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Why is Marigold?
Marigold was created for a reason, she’s just not sure what that reason is.
An android, Marigold was raised at the Evangeline School for Girls on the Gulf Coast. Now an adult, she works on her creator's compound, a desalination plant.
One day, Tom—a wandering human searching for a way to exist in peace—arrives at the compound. Soon, Tom is part of Marigold's family, another reluctant adoptee of her creator. As Tom and Marigold bond, he reveals that he remembers Marigold from somewhere in his murky past. But, she doesn’t remember him at all.
As they unwind a web of their past connections, Marigold and Tom discover the reason for Marigold’s creation... and the mysterious circumstances surrounding Tom’s father’s death.
Cover art by Rachel Evans
"Set in a permanently impermanent world of trailers and camp sites, storm shelters and Dollar Stores, all in the grip of one vast company store, Why is Marigold? What is human? What is possible? What is messing with nature? What is love? as one question that can't be answered or even quite asked. A lovely and disturbing novel."
— Carola Dibbell, author of The Only Ones, 2015 Favorite Books of the Year (Bustle, O, The Oprah Magazine); Best science fiction and fantasy books of 2015 (The Washington Post)
"Why is Marigold? by Sarah Colombo is a magical book that delights in shocking play, both with narrative structure as well as reader expectations. Corporate weirdness, gorgeous wilds, and the ever-present feeling of mystery. These are aspects of Florida in our consciousness and Colombo stokes this sense of place to create a novel intriguing, compelling, and yet also very human.”
— Jordan A. Rothacker, author of The Shrieking of Nothing
"With prose that elegantly chops up and spreads disquiet and wonder across every page, Colombo's Why Is Marigold? is an exploration of the deep-heart center of humanity's exhaustive experience––this thing we call 'reality.' Both on an individual level and on a universal level of 'the unspoken.' Like Douglas Coupland's Generation X (and A), but set in a world teetering on the edge of unraveling. Poignant, sincere, messy, kaleidoscopic. Brilliant."
— Tex Gresham, author of Violent Candy and Sunflower
An android, Marigold was raised at the Evangeline School for Girls on the Gulf Coast. Now an adult, she works on her creator's compound, a desalination plant.
One day, Tom—a wandering human searching for a way to exist in peace—arrives at the compound. Soon, Tom is part of Marigold's family, another reluctant adoptee of her creator. As Tom and Marigold bond, he reveals that he remembers Marigold from somewhere in his murky past. But, she doesn’t remember him at all.
As they unwind a web of their past connections, Marigold and Tom discover the reason for Marigold’s creation... and the mysterious circumstances surrounding Tom’s father’s death.
Cover art by Rachel Evans
"Set in a permanently impermanent world of trailers and camp sites, storm shelters and Dollar Stores, all in the grip of one vast company store, Why is Marigold? What is human? What is possible? What is messing with nature? What is love? as one question that can't be answered or even quite asked. A lovely and disturbing novel."
— Carola Dibbell, author of The Only Ones, 2015 Favorite Books of the Year (Bustle, O, The Oprah Magazine); Best science fiction and fantasy books of 2015 (The Washington Post)
"Why is Marigold? by Sarah Colombo is a magical book that delights in shocking play, both with narrative structure as well as reader expectations. Corporate weirdness, gorgeous wilds, and the ever-present feeling of mystery. These are aspects of Florida in our consciousness and Colombo stokes this sense of place to create a novel intriguing, compelling, and yet also very human.”
— Jordan A. Rothacker, author of The Shrieking of Nothing
"With prose that elegantly chops up and spreads disquiet and wonder across every page, Colombo's Why Is Marigold? is an exploration of the deep-heart center of humanity's exhaustive experience––this thing we call 'reality.' Both on an individual level and on a universal level of 'the unspoken.' Like Douglas Coupland's Generation X (and A), but set in a world teetering on the edge of unraveling. Poignant, sincere, messy, kaleidoscopic. Brilliant."
— Tex Gresham, author of Violent Candy and Sunflower
369 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 8, 2024
16 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 26, 2024
Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC of this novel. Why is marigold by Sarah Colombo is a near future novel where an Android named Marigold tries to figure out her purpose. I thought the narrative voice was unique but also very sparse. And it makes sense, for the character, I just wanted more from this book! More details! More action! I kind of feel like I got more information about what was happening through the blurb than in the novel, but that may have been a choice too! I did enjoy this book, I thought the premise was extremely interesting and the ending was pretty unexpected especially with how android stories really go. I just would have liked it fleshed out a bit more.
March 17, 2025
Marigold came into existence at about the age of twelve. She seems to be an android of some kind, created for a specific purpose. This is her story.
This story takes place somewhere on the Gulf Coast of the United States, in the not too distant past, perhaps the 1980s as there are no cell phones or internet. People watch TV. Indeed life is pretty basic as Marigold, now a young woman of working age, leads a somewhat routine life in a company compound of low rent housing and a factory where she does menial office work. Surely this is not the reason for her creation a decade or so earlier.
Early chapters set the scene; the locations, the main characters, the times, the quiet, relaxed tone and atmosphere. The setting is semi-rural, far south, coastal. Slightly otherworldly.
“We are so far south that almost anywhere is north.”
The characters, apart from Marigold, are for the most part ordinary people, nothing too unusual. Teachers, students, parents, colleagues, supervisors and so forth.
The author gives voices to most of the characters as they take on the role of narrator in alternating chapters. From thoughts, recollections and interactions we learn about the past as well as the present. Marigold has grown up being groomed to appear human by technicians and teachers who are employed for this task. As she interacts with colleagues and others associated with the factory, we get to learn much about her history, schooling, friends and relationships.
The southern atmosphere seems to work for this book. An ordinary setting for an unusual story. Sparsely populated, semi-rural, a working class almost subsistence lifestyle for the factory workers, including Marigold. The author paints a picture of heat and humidity, fast-food, pick-up trucks, lonely roads, derelict buildings and unused land. A limited future for pretty much everyone. Bleak. A factory compound, semi-communal accommodation and limited recreational facilities.
It is in this essentially closed community where Marigold, now an adult young woman, seems content. In the compound, she is regarded as a bit different. Indeed her closest friend knows she is not human. This interestingly is not of great concern to anyone. Marigold is quiet, patient and thoughtful. An accepted part of the community. Pleasant to have around. Well liked by all. But a new arrival at the factory changes the dynamics. This young man has a sense of knowing Marigold from the past but can’t quite place her. There seems to be a connection of some sort.
Marigold reflects on her youth and the grooming she had to become more human. But surely it wasn’t to become a menial factory worker ? There must have been more purpose to her life ? The young man’s arrival changes something. Marigold starts to become untethered to her lifestyle. Unexpectedly she seems to be developing more advanced and nuanced human characteristics; feelings, thoughts and a curiosity about her past and future life.
The author quietly and slowly develops the plot and characters. The heat and humidity quite literally add to the atmosphere. I enjoyed the descriptions of sounds and smells at different times of the day. Early morning and nights are particularly eerie, almost ominous, but not quite. At least not for Marigold, but then again, she’s not really that sort of person. She doesn’t sleep much.
The character of Marigold is intriguing. She has been taught how to behave as a human by teachers and others. Also from books and TV. But we get a sense she is incomplete, unfulfilled, not quite right. She senses this too. The reader identifies with her. We want things to turn out fine for this unusual young woman. Other characters, some less well-developed, play their role in the story. reflecting on past lives and where they are today. Lives and relationships, past and present intermingle and unravel.
I loved the authors sparse phrasing. Beyond the atmosphere, the characters thoughts and words project something unknowing and a little uncanny. Not exactly dread, more a sadness and futility. Quiet observations and thoughts speak volumes.
One character observes of two others:
“They stand at an odd distance from each other, a little too far away for comfortable conversation, but not so far as to seem rude.”
Another time Marigold is in a conversation and thinks to herself:
“..we are sharing a space in silence, and it seems to be my turn to talk.”
I loved this book. I read the final pages slowly, not wanting it to end. Now a couple of days later, I’m still thinking about Marigold and the people in her life. Authentic characters, ordinary but memorable, real people, in search of fulfilment of some kind. For the most part warm, compassionate, caring and deserving. Humans with hope and wishes, regrets and plans. I could not help but care about Marigold; she deserves happiness.
I wish the author every success with this book. Another fine release from the Spaceboy Books publishing house. They can be proud of this book. It deserves a wide audience.
This story takes place somewhere on the Gulf Coast of the United States, in the not too distant past, perhaps the 1980s as there are no cell phones or internet. People watch TV. Indeed life is pretty basic as Marigold, now a young woman of working age, leads a somewhat routine life in a company compound of low rent housing and a factory where she does menial office work. Surely this is not the reason for her creation a decade or so earlier.
Early chapters set the scene; the locations, the main characters, the times, the quiet, relaxed tone and atmosphere. The setting is semi-rural, far south, coastal. Slightly otherworldly.
“We are so far south that almost anywhere is north.”
The characters, apart from Marigold, are for the most part ordinary people, nothing too unusual. Teachers, students, parents, colleagues, supervisors and so forth.
The author gives voices to most of the characters as they take on the role of narrator in alternating chapters. From thoughts, recollections and interactions we learn about the past as well as the present. Marigold has grown up being groomed to appear human by technicians and teachers who are employed for this task. As she interacts with colleagues and others associated with the factory, we get to learn much about her history, schooling, friends and relationships.
The southern atmosphere seems to work for this book. An ordinary setting for an unusual story. Sparsely populated, semi-rural, a working class almost subsistence lifestyle for the factory workers, including Marigold. The author paints a picture of heat and humidity, fast-food, pick-up trucks, lonely roads, derelict buildings and unused land. A limited future for pretty much everyone. Bleak. A factory compound, semi-communal accommodation and limited recreational facilities.
It is in this essentially closed community where Marigold, now an adult young woman, seems content. In the compound, she is regarded as a bit different. Indeed her closest friend knows she is not human. This interestingly is not of great concern to anyone. Marigold is quiet, patient and thoughtful. An accepted part of the community. Pleasant to have around. Well liked by all. But a new arrival at the factory changes the dynamics. This young man has a sense of knowing Marigold from the past but can’t quite place her. There seems to be a connection of some sort.
Marigold reflects on her youth and the grooming she had to become more human. But surely it wasn’t to become a menial factory worker ? There must have been more purpose to her life ? The young man’s arrival changes something. Marigold starts to become untethered to her lifestyle. Unexpectedly she seems to be developing more advanced and nuanced human characteristics; feelings, thoughts and a curiosity about her past and future life.
The author quietly and slowly develops the plot and characters. The heat and humidity quite literally add to the atmosphere. I enjoyed the descriptions of sounds and smells at different times of the day. Early morning and nights are particularly eerie, almost ominous, but not quite. At least not for Marigold, but then again, she’s not really that sort of person. She doesn’t sleep much.
The character of Marigold is intriguing. She has been taught how to behave as a human by teachers and others. Also from books and TV. But we get a sense she is incomplete, unfulfilled, not quite right. She senses this too. The reader identifies with her. We want things to turn out fine for this unusual young woman. Other characters, some less well-developed, play their role in the story. reflecting on past lives and where they are today. Lives and relationships, past and present intermingle and unravel.
I loved the authors sparse phrasing. Beyond the atmosphere, the characters thoughts and words project something unknowing and a little uncanny. Not exactly dread, more a sadness and futility. Quiet observations and thoughts speak volumes.
One character observes of two others:
“They stand at an odd distance from each other, a little too far away for comfortable conversation, but not so far as to seem rude.”
Another time Marigold is in a conversation and thinks to herself:
“..we are sharing a space in silence, and it seems to be my turn to talk.”
I loved this book. I read the final pages slowly, not wanting it to end. Now a couple of days later, I’m still thinking about Marigold and the people in her life. Authentic characters, ordinary but memorable, real people, in search of fulfilment of some kind. For the most part warm, compassionate, caring and deserving. Humans with hope and wishes, regrets and plans. I could not help but care about Marigold; she deserves happiness.
I wish the author every success with this book. Another fine release from the Spaceboy Books publishing house. They can be proud of this book. It deserves a wide audience.
February 15, 2025
My daughter wrote this so I am biased.
December 24, 2025
The question posed by Why is Marigold? is an existential one. It is essentially the question we all ask ourselves: why do I exist? Except that Marigold is a bioandroid, a creature “born” at the age of twelve and then raised and educated as a human being for purposes that gradually become clear as the story unfolds. However Marigold's biological part, the human part, so to speak, takes a turn that was not anticipated by those who created her, and she becomes a real individual and begins to ask herself questions. This, however, disturbs her, and in the end she makes a choice very similar to suicide. Set in an America plagued by drought, sprawling trailer parks and growing despair, Why is Marigold? is a novel of great intensity. However, some discontinuities in the narrative prevent it from reaching perfection.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews