Redemption in Indigo: A Novel Audiobook

The enchanting tale of mischief and myth—inspired by West African folklore—that became a fantasy classic, from the award-winning author of The Blue, Beautiful World

Paama is a marvelous cook who’s had the bad fortune to marry Ansige. He was the least eligible bachelor in his village: self-centered, foolish, and food-obsessed. Paama has had enough of this miserable life with her gluttonous husband, and so leaves him to return to her old life with her family.

But Paama does not know that this is the beginning of a remarkable adventure. Because the Undying Ones are watching her. These spirits observe the follies of mortal life . . . and sometimes meddle and make mischief.

One of these beings presents her with a magical artifact known as the Chaos Stick, which he says is “great for stirring things up.” As Paama gets to know the powers of this marvelous gift, she learns that the Chaos Stick was stolen from a rival spirit, who decides to stir up some trouble of his own.

But mastering this magical artifact is only the beginning of Paama’s quest. Although Paama has been granted great power by the Undying Ones, her real journey is to find the magic that lies within herself.

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"It took me longer than expected to get into the voice of this story. I've read varying reviews on the narrator, but while some of the interjections were distracting, mostly it reminded me that this was a storyteller's oral tale from another country and not a traditional fantasy novel. I think it was the fable format in the beginning that threw me off...fables are concise and the story of Ansige fell right into that type of pattern. I was waiting for the moral and the fable to wrap up and unsure where the rest of the book was going. Ansige's story was fleshed out a tiny bit further at the end of the book, giving an expanation of sorts as to his ridiculous actions and sketchy motivations, but in the beginning he is simply a bad joke who gives Paama a chance to show her wit in getting him out of the situations he eats his way into. Then we get Paama's sister's tale, which introduces the 'indigo lord', but also seems like it's own stand alone vignette with a love story, confused identities, and a touch of trickster. Once Paama heads off to the House of the Sisters, it starts to grow from a collection of small stories to a fairy tale style start of the adventures, getting wisdom and magical gifts from her fairy godmothers. That is where there story started to draw me in. I found that the fable-style storytelling and the narration put some distance between the characters and me, but I still cared about what would happen to them. I was trying to figure out how Paama and the indigo lord might continue a relationship in the future, as their characters bond over the lessons they learn from one another, not sure that a love interest was the right fit. I was pleased with how it all worked out, though once they mentioned Paama's future and Chance and Trickster's change of paths, it was clear how that would pan out. But the epilogue wrapped everything up perfectly for me. I had read one review about disliking morals and comparing this book to the Alchemist, which was funny since the narrator blatently addressed that issue. But to me the Alchemist beat me over the head to make sure I learned the lesson it wanted to teach me. This, oddly, seemed more subtle in it's lessons even though the narrator sometimes explains things outright to us. But because they state it and move on, it didn't seem as preachy and repetitive as I felt the Alchemist was. In the end, if there had been a bit more of Ansige's motivations, more of the lessons Paama learned other than what she taught, more of the Sister's and their magic, etc, I would have felt more involved in and connected to the story. But it was a good one nevertheless."

— Jill (4 out of 5 stars)