Every Bone a Prayer
"Blooms has taken the voice and names of Appalachia, tended, and evolved them, and created a book that is at once haunting and hopeful."--NPR
Praised by BuzzFeed, Good Housekeeping, POPSUGAR, Bustle, and more!
Misty's holler looks like any of the thousands of hollers that fork through the Appalachian Mountains. But Misty knows her home is different. She may be only ten, but she hears things. Even the crawdads in the creek have something to say, if you listen.
All that Misty's sister Penny wants to talk about are the strange objects that start appearing outside their trailer. The grown-ups mutter about sins and punishment, but that doesn't scare Misty. Not like the hurtful thing that's been happening to her, the hurtful thing that is becoming part of her. Ever since her neighbor William cornered her in the barn, she must figure out how to get back to the Misty she was before--the Misty who wasn't afraid to listen.
This is the story of one tough-as-nails girl whose choices are few but whose fight is boundless, as her coping becomes a battle cry for everyone around her. Perfect for fans of Southern coming-of-age stories like Where the Crawdads Sing and If The Creek Don't Rise, Every Bone a Prayer is a beautifully honest exploration of healing and of hope.
Praise for Every Bone a Prayer:
"Haunting and healing, Every Bone A Prayer is a powerful debut that will leave its mark on readers' hearts."--Kim Michele Richardson, New York Times bestselling author of The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek
"This is a book and a writer I highly recommend."--Dorothy Allison, author of Bastard out of Carolina
"This is the kind of book we need to set literary expectations for a new decade. It's so textured, so layered with love and so wonderfully terrifying, intimate and magical."--Kiese Laymon, author of Heavy: An American Memoir
"Searing and soothing, honest and elusive, Every Bone a Prayer is a gift. It's the pure truth, told slant."--Alix E. Harrow, author of The Once and Future Witches
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Ashley Blooms has published short fiction in The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror, Fantasy & Science Fiction, Strange Horizons, and Shimmer, among others, and her essay "Fire in My Bones" appeared in the Oxford American. Ashley is a graduate of the Clarion Writer's Workshop and the Tin House Winter Workshop and received her MFA as a John and Renee Grisham Fellow from the University of Mississippi. She was raised in Cutshin, Kentucky, and now lives in Berea, Kentucky.
"I couldn't stop reading Ashley Bloom's raw-boned language that carried me on young Misty's journey. While the weight on her skin threatened to take her under, the current of hope had me rooting for Misty to rise up. I can't wait to see this book shoot into the stratosphere." - Leah Weiss, author of If the Creek Don't Rise
"I have loved Every Bone a Prayer since I saw an early draft years ago, loved Misty, her family, her secret talents, and the way she sees the world around her, from the crawfish in muddy water to the ghostly trees she runs past in the night, to the trailer park where she and her family barely survive. This is a book and a writer I highly recommend." - Dorothy Allison, author of Bastard out of Carolina
"There's magic in this book - and pain, and beauty, and horror - but the magic is what will keep you glued to the page, and have your heart singing the whole way." - Sam J. Miller, Nebula-Award-winning author of Blackfish City
"Haunting and healing, Every Bone A Prayer is a powerful debut that will leave its mark on readers' hearts." - Kim Michele Richardson, New York Times bestselling author of The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek
"Ashley Blooms's debut novel, Every Bone a Prayer, is a brilliant and powerful book. Misty's story is full of magic and heartbreak, sorrow and strength. This is a vital story, beautifully written, and one I highly recommend." - Kat Howard, Alex Award-winning author of An Unkindness of Magicians
"Every Bone a Prayer is beautifully written and absolutely harrowing from first page to last. It's unlike anything you've ever read before, and you will be mesmerized by it. Misty is among the most endearing characters I've met on the written page in a long while and I won't forget her anytime soon. This haunting debut announces the arrival of one of the most original and exciting new voices in literature." - Silas House, author of Clay's Quilt and Southernmost
