The Peculiar Miracles of Antoinette Martin

June 27, 2016
Knipper’s first novel chronicles how two sisters, Rose and Lily Martin, attempt to mend their longtime rift once Rose realizes that she’s dying and that she wants Lily to come home to care for Rose’s 10-year-old daughter, Antoinette. Antoinette has never spoken and exhibits other autistic-like behaviors as well as supernatural abilities, including the ability to heal things with her touch. She’s currently cared for on a flower farm in Redbud, Ky., by her mom and Rose’s childhood friend Seth Hastings, who lives next door. Seth still carries a torch for Lily, despite having left her years ago to go to seminary school. Lily has similar feelings for Seth, though she hides behind her friendship with dashingly handsome Will Grayson, who’s also in love with her. Lily, meanwhile, has OCD, which manifests in her need to count things; she’s stayed away all these years for fear that exposure to her niece will worsen her tics. But luckily for everyone, Lily and Antoinette warm to each other, though Lily is spooked that Antoinette has the ability to restore the dead and wounded. Though some of the pieces don’t quite fit together, the originality of the plot in Knipper’s debut will keep readers turning the pages.

May 15, 2016

Growing up on a commercial flower farm in Redbud, KY, Rose and Lucy Martin were more like best friends than sisters. Lucy's compulsive need to count and her fascination with the language of flowers made her stand out in their small town; Seth, the proverbial boy next door, made everything okay. Then Seth left for the seminary, Rose gave birth to Antoinette, and the sisters stopped speaking after Lucy drew attention to Antoinette's differences from other children. Now Rose's heart is failing and she needs Lucy to take guardianship of her daughter. Will Lucy come home? What if she knew Seth was there, too? Knipper skillfully shows the sisters' relationship with complex layers of support and understanding alongside the conflict that drove them apart. Rose's increasingly fragile health is an authentic reason for reconnecting and creates a dramatic twist at the end. Antoinette's abilities remain somewhat mysterious but consistent, allowing readers to accept them without needing them to be defined. Lucy's quirks and romantic dilemmas are nice extras. VERDICT This charming debut will appeal to those seeking elements of magic realism, family relationships, and personal growth, as well as Sarah Addison Allen fans.--Stacey Hayman, Rocky River P.L., OH

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2016
Antoinette Martin is a 10-year-old with autism so severe that a doctor suggests to her single mother, Rose, that she consider institutions.Knipper's debut novel would have benefited from more of its namesake's point of view, even though she can't speak. Instead, the author rotates among the perspectives of Antoinette, Rose, and Rose's estranged sister, Lily, supported by a cast of several additional characters. Rose has congenital heart failure and must reconcile with Lily to assure Antoinette's future. The plot is complicated by a love triangle--Lily is torn between her childhood sweetheart and next-door neighbor, Seth, who has become co-owner of her family's flower farm, and Will, her next-door neighbor in adulthood. If it seems strange that Lily only loves men who live next door, it's even stranger that she seems to be on the autism spectrum herself but no one mentions it, other than to note her quirks. Rose blames herself for Antoinette's disabilities rather than considering genetics. The miracles of the title refer to the healing effect Antoinette's touch has on sick people. Will figures out what's happening with Antoinette--although it's still mysterious--and with Lily's emotions in an ending that seems rushed after so much florid buildup ("Seth made her feel lit up from within, as if by a thousand fireflies"). The sections where the narrator gets inside Antoinette's head and explains what she's feeling are interesting, even captivating at times, and finely written. A novel that tries to be a family drama, a romance, and a story of disability might have succeeded better if it had focused more on Antoinette.

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