Folkloric elements blend with pure romance in Rhonda Riley's startling The Enchanted Life of Adam Hope, a debut novel that raises questions about how well we ever know our loved ones.
In the aftermath of World War II, the course of Evelyn Roe's life changes forever when she unearths a horribly scarred person buried in the red clay of her family's North Carolina farm. As the scarring quickly transfigures itself into new skin and features, Evelyn realizes something fantastical is at work. She finds herself in charge of a fully grown being who remembers nothing of its past, who can change form as well as gender, who is both otherworldly and completely human.
Determined to protect this innocent life, Evelyn makes up a history for Adam that will allow them to live a normal life--they marry, work the land and produce children, their love and commitment strengthening as the years pass. Questions remain, though: Who--and what--is Adam? How much of their father's nature have their daughters inherited, and how can Evelyn explain that to them?
Riley's unusual meditation on the private worlds we build to shelter our partners and our children is written with earthiness and deep appreciation for the power of the land. Evelyn's guilt over the lies she tells her family is mitigated by the discovery that her parents have in turn kept a secret to protect her--that humans use layers of deception not only for evil purposes but out of love.
Both dreamily erotic and filled with the relatable minutiae of day-to-day life, Evelyn and Adam's love story will make readers reassess their own origin stories. --Jaclyn Fulwood, youth services manager, Latah County Library District; blogger at Infinite Reads