Author: Rita Leganski
Sale Date: 2/26/2013
Imprint: Harper Paperbacks
ISBN: 62113763
ISBN 13: 978006211376
Book Description:
Bonaventure Arrow didn’t make a peep when he was born, and the doctor nearly took him for dead. But he was only listening, placing sound inside quiet and gaining his bearings. By the time he is five, he can hear flowers grow, a thousand shades of blue, and the miniature tempests that rage inside raindrops. One day, Bonaventure’s world is shaken by anguished voices he’s never heard before–voices that trace back to a note written by his mother, Dancy, and to a peculiar relic owned by his Grand-mère Letice. When Bonaventure removes the note and the relic from where they’ve been hidden, he opens two doors to the past and finds the key to a web of secrets that both hold his family together, and threaten to tear them apart. Set against the background of 1950s New Orleans and the fictional town of Bayou Cymbaline, The Silence of Bonaventure Arrow is rich with the character of a culture that overflows with conjured charms and sanctified spirits. It takes readers from a gumbo joint on Atchafaylaya Road to a sinister house in New Orleans to the interior of the Arrow family crypt. A magical debut novel about the lost art of listening and a wondrous little boy who brings healing to the souls of all who love him in this story of forgiveness and redemption
Idgie Says:
This novel is filled with mysticism and spirits. An interesting story that literally jumps back in forth from Bonaventure in the womb, the the youthful history of the grandmother, and her dark secret, to the mind of a killer who slowly forgets why he killed anyone and who he is.
When Bonaventure's father is killed, not only does he decide to stick around in ghost form and watch over Bonaventure, but something mystical happened in the universe and Bonaventure lost the ability to speak but gained super acute hearing (and eventually he can hear more than just voices) at that same moment his father died.
Most people only see a mute little boy during the years that follow, but certain people come to realize how special he is.
The characters in the book all receive deep back stories, explaining how they became who they are and where it all leads to the future. In other words, every action has a reaction in life, whether it's noticed immediately or not.