Madapple - by Christina Meldrum (Paperback)

About the Book

Addictive, thought-provoking, and shocking, this debut novel is a page-turning exploration of human nature and divine intervention--and of the darkest corners of the human soul. An ALA-YALSA Best Book for Young Adults.

Book Synopsis

THE SECRETS OF the past meet the shocks of the present.
Aslaug is an unusual young woman. Her mother has brought her up in near isolation, teaching her about plants and nature and language--but not about life. Especially not how she came to have her own life, and who her father might be.

When Aslaug's mother dies unexpectedly, everything changes. For Aslaug is a suspect in her mother's death. And the more her story unravels, the more questions unfold. About the nature of Aslaug's birth. About what she should do next.

About whether divine miracles have truly happened. And whether, when all other explanations are impossible, they might still happen this very day.

Addictive, thought-provoking, and shocking, Madapple is a page-turning exploration of human nature and divine intervention--and of the darkest corners of the human soul.

Review Quotes

Starred Review, Booklist, April 1, 2008:
"There is much to ponder in this enthralling achievement from a debut author."

Starred Review, Kirkus Reviews, May 1, 2008:
"With this spellbinding debut, Meldrum marks herself as an author to watch."

Review, Vanity Fair, June 2008:
"In debut novelist Christina Meldrum's mesmerizing literary mystery MADAPPLE (Knopf), the worlds of science and faith collide."

Starred Review, Publisher's Weekly, May 26, 2008:
"Audiences will need some intellectual mettle for the densely seeded ideas, but they won't be able to stop reading."

Starred Review, School Library Journal, July 2008:
"[A] riveting and mind-opening experience."

About the Author

Christina Meldrum is a former attorney who lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. Madapple is her first novel.