In her rural Appalachian holler, ten-year-old Misty has a mystical ability to speak with animals, water, and even objects. When her only friend William violates her trust, Misty uses her special powers to cope. Meanwhile strange glass sculptures that have arisen in her neighbor's garden are trying to reveal secrets to Misty.
Every Bone A Prayer, the slipstream—that liminal combination of the literary and the fantastical—debut novel written by a survivor of child sexual abuse, bears within its pages striking beauty and strangeness in equal measure. I'm not going to veer from the truth any more than author Ashley Blooms does: This book hurts. The detailed author's note in the frontmatter only reinforces the fact that Every Bone a Prayer is a difficult, important, and beautifully rendered story of generational trauma, survival, and healing. The characters I met within its pages have stayed with me, their names and stories etched on my memory ... Novels like Every Bone A Prayer are important specifically because they give a lyrical voice, agency, and a resonating mythos to those fighting to reclaim their names, and selves ... a book that is at once haunting and hopeful.
This glimmering, painfully honest first novel tells the story of ten-year-old Misty, who lives in an Appalachian holler with her feuding parents and an older sister to whom she is closely bonded ... A beautifully rendered coming-of-age tale for a wide range of readers.
In this haunting debut novel, Blooms makes a mystical exploration of the hidden power that lies within and the strategies assault survivors can undertake to regain a feeling of ownership over body and mind.
