{Yarn Along} Amity and Sorrow

I've started another pair of socks. This one seemed to be pooling, but I think it's settling down into stripes now that I'm done with the toe increases. Whatever it's doing, I love the colors. And I'm using up stash, so it's a win-win.

The book is Amity & Sorrow by Peggy Riley. The publisher's description is brief and intriguing --

A mother and her daughters drive for days without sleep until they crash their car in rural Oklahoma. The mother, Amaranth, is desperate to get away from someone she's convinced will follow them wherever they go--her husband. The girls, Amity and Sorrow, can't imagine what the world holds outside their father's polygamous compound. Rescue comes in the unlikely form of Bradley, a farmer grieving the loss of his wife. At first unwelcoming to these strange, prayerful women, Bradley's abiding tolerance gets the best of him, and they become a new kind of family. An unforgettable story of belief and redemption, AMITY & SORROW is about the influence of community and learning to stand on your own.

And, once I started reading, I didn't know much more. Just that this woman and her two daughters were fleeing something absolutely awful. Their history is revealed in brief glimpses as they move away from their old life and towards something else. Every little detail that was revealed made me want to keep reading to find out more.

The prose is absolutely gorgeous. I could see the candles blazing in mason jars in the windows of the temple and feel the dusty old farmhouse. The story is sad and hopeful -- it kind of reminded me of The Death of Bees, the way that Amaranth and her daughters so desperately needed help, but the people around them were in no position to offer it.

My copy of Amity and Sorrow was provided by the publisher. For more pretty knitting projects to drool over, check out On the Needles at Patchwork Times and Work in Progress Wednesdays at Tami's Amis.