GIVEAWAY!! Blog Tour: Mary Indiana by Anneke Campbell

Mary Indiana

written by Anneke Campbell          
published by booksbnimble.com

find it here: Amazon, Goodreads

Why did I pick this book: I am a stop on the blog tour hosted by CLP Blog Tours. (I received a copy of this book for review purposes.)

Did I enjoy this book: This is a cute story with a happy ending. At first, I was unsure about whether or not I was going to like this book. I didn’t know if it was going to be over-the-top religious or the complete opposite, over-the-top anti-religion. Thankfully, Mary Indiana is neither. This book had some funny moments, some scratch your head moments, some moments of disbelief but overall, I enjoyed Mary Indiana.

Our leading lady – Mary – is a young girl who is pregnant but a virgin. Soon she finds herself seen as a healer, as a blasphemer, as a sign from heaven above, as a medical marvel, and as an alien experimentation. As the synopsis states, it is amazing how one event can be transformed into so many different meanings for so many different people. And how the internet can spread “news” faster than ever before. 

There are a lot of characters in this book, most of which are easy enough to keep track of. Besides Mary, the main characters are Violet, Joe, Ted, and Dr. Bob. Violet, though does not seem to want children or need a man in her life, becomes a good friend to Mary and there for her throughout her stay in Bellingham. Joe is a postal deliveryman who happens to pick up Mary when he finds her dirty and injured along the side of the road. He takes to her and she to him. He wants to protect her. Ted comes into the story later and, although his motives are not completely selfless, he does his best to help Mary. And Dr. Bob thinks he has found a new scientific breakthrough and wants Mary to go along with his tests so he can be famous. I didn’t really like Dr. Bob in the beginning. But in the end, I did like Dr. Bob. There are also a host of secondary and tertiary characters that help this story along and make it what it is. 

Would I recommend it: If you like chick lit and happy endings, then, yes, read this book. 

Will I read it again: I will not read this book again. 

About the book – from Goodreads: She’s eighteen and pregnant, but with a twist–the new kid in town’s barely been kissed! Could she really be a virgin? The town doc swears it’s true. There’s just GOTTA be an explanation.

But it’s not coming from Mary, as she’s quickly dubbed. She seems to have taken a vow of silence. So it’s up to the citizens of Bellingham to make their own miracles—or at least their own myths. The new celeb is instantly surrounded by hangers-on, miracle-seekers, paparazzi, preachers, and promoters—to hilarious effect.

But are they dealing with an angel here, or someone playing an angle? Con, in a word, or icon? And by the way, what’s up with that strange light in the sky? Could be she came off a spaceship.

Neither sacred nor profane, nor even paranormal, Campbell’s beautifully written book is at once funny and wise, a savvy story of how myths are made, how minds twist and turn around the extraordinary, how the human organism just can’t help grabbing for the supernatural, whether out of the spiritual need for a miracle or a mundane desire for cash.

About the author: Anneke Campbell was born and raised in The Netherlands and immigrated to America when she was 17. She has had a number of careers: midwife, practical nurse, masseuse, yoga teacher, college teacher of English literature and of writing. She is a scriptwriter, and a journalist and an award-winning poet. Her first novel, Mary of Bellingham, was published in 2004. She was the writer/producer of the ten-part series, ACLU Freedom Files for LINK and Court TV in 2005. Her manual for activists with Thomas Linzey, “Be The Change: How To Get What You Want in Your Community,” was published in 2009. She edited an anthology on women’s leadership, Moonrise: The Power of Women Leading From The Heart, which will be published in October of 2010. She lives with her companion, director Jeremy Kagan, in Venice, California. 

Find Ms. Campbell here: Goodreads

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