Follow Me to Ground by Sue Rainsford is a very unique and unusual book. The main characters, Ada and her father, are not human, though apparently they kind of look like people. The father and daughter live on the edge of town and are healers that treat the town folk, or “cures” as they refer to them, when regular medicine doesn’t suffice. They literally open people’s bodies and remove sickness and bury them for a time in a specially prepared section of the yard until they are healed. Ada is being trained by her father and slowly her father is giving her more responsibility and independence. Her father is disciplined and focused on the work and their vocation but Ada is a young person and likes to take long walks. She eventually meets a young man and falls in love. Ada’s father does not approve as he senses that her lover is not morally well and he tells Ada to break off the relationship. Will Ada do as her father demands? What about her beau, can she cure his moral sickness?
Ada is the narrator of her story and she has a very matter of fact and somewhat unnatural view. Who Ada and her father are, the healing, their lives, their relationship with the town folk and all the rest is slowly revealed. The story is bazaar, but also grabs you and doesn’t let go. It is a wonderful example of an alternate reality (magical realism) that is creatively constructed. We gain a glimpse of this alternate reality by seeing the world through Ada’s eyes. The story is not necessarily satisfying. I guess it is not that kind of book.
I listened to the audio version of the book and it is always nice to hear the author read it.