#Bookreview – Brother Love by Teagan Geneviene

What Amazon says

“Brother Love – a Crossroad” is a mysterious “Twilight Zone-ish” short novella. It was inspired by the combination of Neil Diamond’s song and the blues legends of Robert Johnson and the Devil at the Crossroads. As in the real world, things in this tale are not what they seem. The setting is rural Mississippi in the 1950s. A group of outcasts are in a small southern town. They don’t realize they are looking for something. Will they find it?

My review

I am a big fan of Teagan Geneviene’s books as I find her stories to be highly entertaining and imaginative and, despite containing elements of the mystical and supernatural, to be believable and seem quite possible. I also find the author’s characters to be interesting and colourful and I enjoy the way she uses their actions, emotions and dialogues to weave her stories in a natural and heartfelt way.

Brother Love is no exception to this rule and I enjoyed this novella with its setting in a town in Mississippi and its main character a young woman, named Birdie Devovo who, due to her mother’s controversial behaviour, is a social outcast in the town. Despite the circumstances in which she lives alone, having no where else to go, Birdie is a kindly and caring person who would never stand by and watch someone else being hurt or abused.

The story opens with Birdie finding a flyer advertising Brother Love’s Travelling Salvation Show. Subsequent to finding his flyer, Birdie starts interacting with some intriguing people, all of whom have an interest in the show, which is the central theme of the story. There is Brother Armstrong, an ex-convict who went to prison for killing a man and who is now a preacher, there is an elderly black guitarist who is referred to as Sinnerman, a beautiful woman who looks like Ava Gardner and her daughter, Tammy, a free bleeder in need of healing to live a full life. Jinx, a talking magpie with some supernatural abilities also has a prominent role in this mystical story.

I would recommend this novella to people who are looking for an entertaining and imaginative read with lots of character.

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