The Weight of Blood

The Weight of Blood

by Laura McHugh

Synopsis:

The town of Henbane sits deep in the Ozark Mountains. Folks there still whisper about Lucy Dane's mother, a bewitching stranger who appeared long enough to marry Carl Dane and then vanished when Lucy was just a child. Now on the brink of adulthood, Lucy experiences another loss when her friend Cheri disappears and is then found murdered, her body placed on display for all to see. Lucy's family has deep roots in the Ozarks, part of a community that is fiercely protective of its own. Yet despite her close ties to the land, and despite her family's influence, Lucy-darkly beautiful as her mother was-is always thought of by those around her as her mother's daughter. When Cheri disappears, Lucy is haunted by the two lost girls-the mother she never knew and the friend she couldn't save-and sets out with the help of a local boy, Daniel, to uncover the mystery behind Cheri's death.
 What Lucy discovers is a secret that pervades the secluded Missouri hills, and beyond that horrific revelation is a more personal one concerning what happened to her mother more than a decade earlier. The Weight of Blood is an urgent look at the dark side of a bucolic landscape beyond the arm of the law, where a person can easily disappear without a trace. Laura McHugh proves herself a masterly storyteller who has created a harsh and tangled terrain as alive and unforgettable as the characters who inhabit it. Her mesmerizing debut is a compelling exploration of the meaning of family: the sacrifices we make, the secrets we keep, and the lengths to which we will go to protect the ones we love.

My thoughts:

I was browsing the bookstore just looking for anything that wasn't dystopic or teen romance when this book title caught my eye.  The story itself is dark and the setting, the small town of Henbane that sits deep in the Ozark Mountains is a perfect fit.  Everyone in town believed that Cheri had just run away from a bad mother.  However, when her mutilated body shows up on display in the town river a year later Lucy, our primary protagonist becomes haunted by the death.  It turns out that Lucy's mother, a bewitching stranger who appeared long enough to marry Lucy's father, disappeared without a trace a decade earlier.  Lucy begins to wonder if perhaps her mother's disappearance was a murder as well.  As Lucy searches for answers she discovers a secret that pervades the secluded Missouri hills, and beyond that horrific revelation is a more personal one concerning what happened to her mother more than a decade earlier.  This novel, told from different characters perspectives and time periods is guaranteed to keep readers turning pages through the night.