Blood: The Color Of Cranberries [Paperback]

Pamelia Barratt (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 9, 2009

Blood: the Color of Cranberries is a sweeping chronicle of the Milton family, sophisticated Chicagoans who are forced to move to a small, northern Wisconsin peat bog in 1920, due to the sudden and unexpected death of a family member. The twisting interplay of personalities, each with their own secrets, delays the unraveling of this mysterious "accident" for forty years. Along the way, the reader is introduced to a history of cranberry cultivation in Indianhead country, as well as the life and communities of the North Woods prior to 1960.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Pamelia Barratt grew up in Chicago and spent summers on her father's cranberry bog in northern Wisconsin. After graduating from Smith College and receiving an advanced degree from Georgetown University, she taught high school chemistry in Washington, D.C. Later, while living in England, she earned a masters degree in Latin American Studies and, with her husband, went on to start a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) in Bolivia that helps the indigenous Aymara. Recently she has worked as a journalist in San Diego. Blood: the Color of Cranberries is her first novel.

Product Details

• Paperback: 278 pages
• Publisher: Plowshare Media; First Edition edition (March 9, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0982114508
• ISBN-13: 978-0982114506
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 8.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,090,523 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A sweet story..., March 25, 2009

By 

Tom Tweed (La Jolla, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blood: The Color Of Cranberries (Paperback)

If your tastes run towards the gory thriller type of chilling mystery novel, this is probably not the book for you, despite the existence of "Blood" in the title. In this case, the word "blood" is meant in the familial sense, as it is a more subtle story of the members of an American family told across several generations, all linked and influenced by a mysterious "accident" that has far-reaching effects on everyone's lives. The characters and historical descriptions are interesting and well-drawn, and the chain of events is compelling and involving, as the mystery unfolds over five decades on a cranberry farm in Wisconsin.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fine and very highly recommended read, February 9, 2010

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blood: The Color Of Cranberries (Paperback)

There are dark mysteries behind the most innocent of things. "Blood: The Color of Cranberries" is a tale of early cranberry cultivation and how a Wisconsin farmer, a Chicago flapper girl and one native American face their own histories and the hardship of cranberry farming. Proving an intriguing mystery as well as a snapshot of a lost time, "Blood: The Color of Cranberries" is a fine and very highly recommended read.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars loved it!, May 15, 2009

By 

happy now (San Diego, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blood: The Color Of Cranberries (Paperback)

Just finished it tonight - great story - and along the way I learned a lot about cranberry bogs and the natural history of Northern Wisconsin. Meanwhile I was getting enough clues to figure out that all these interesting characters were somehow connected in hidden ways, and to form my own theories as to who had orchestrated the accident/crime. Half way thru, I decided that the author must be an engineer or a scientist, because this puzzle, with all its gradually revealed connections, was so well put together. Well done - I thoroughly enjoyed this book.