Name: Lara Engle's review of Follow Me to Ground by Sue Rainsford
Item: Follow Me to Ground
Rating: 5
Author: Lara Engle

Sue Rainsford

“Seethingly assured…like all the best horror, [Follow Me to Ground] is an impressive balancing act between judicious withholding and unnerving reveals.” —The Guardian A “legitimately frightening” (The New York Times Book Review) debut novel about an otherworldly young woman, her father, and her lover that culminates in a shocking moment of betrayal. “You’ve never encountered a father-daughter story like Rainsford’s slim debut” (Entertainment Weekly). Ada and her father, touched by the power to heal illness, live on the edge of a village where they help sick locals—or “Cures”—by cracking open their damaged bodies or temporarily burying them in the reviving, dangerous Ground nearby. Ada, a being both more and less than human, is mostly uninterested in the Cures, until she meets a man named Samson—and they quickly strike up an affair. Soon, Ada is torn between her old way of life and new possibilities with her lover, and eventually she comes to a decision that will forever change Samson, the town, and the Ground itself. “Visceral in its descriptions…this unworldly story is a well-crafted and eerie exploration of desire…beautifully intoxicating” (Shelf Awareness). In Ada, award-winning author Sue Rainsford has created an utterly bewitching heroine, one who challenges conventional ideas of womanhood and the secrets of the body. “A triumph of imagination and myth-bending…equal parts beauty and horror [Follow Me to Ground is] unlike anything you will read this year” (Téa Obreht).

A Novel

Follow Me to Ground

Alethea Stoltzfus

'Equal parts beauty and horror, and unlike anything you will read this year' TEA OBREHT 'Seethingly assured debut fuses magical realism with critical and feminist theory' GUARDIAN In house in a wood, Ada and her father live peacefully, tending to their garden and the wildlife in it. They are not human though. Ada was made by her father from the Ground, a unique patch of earth with birthing and healing properties. Though perhaps he didn't get her quite right. They spend their days healing the local human folk - named Cures - who visit them, suspiciously, with their ailments. When Ada embarks on a relationship with a local Cure named Samson, and is forced to choose between her old life with her father, and a new one with her human lover. Her decision will uproot the town - and the Ground itself - for ever. A poised and simmering tour-de-force, FOLLOW ME TO GROUND is a sinister vision of desire and freewill, voiced in earthy prose and eviscerating detail by an astoundingly original new writer. 'Fierce, palpable, hynoptic. A dazzling, troubling dream' COLIN BARRETT LONGLISTED FOR THE DESMOND ELLIOT PRIZE 2019

Lara Engle

I'm not even sure what I just read. But I think I liked it. It was weird and often gross, but oddly thought-provoking. I'm going to have to consider this one for a while. And maybe read it again.

Palm Beach Post, BuzzFeed, and LitHub’s Most Anticipated of 2020 A haunted, surreal debut novel about an otherworldly young woman, her father, and her lover that culminates in a shocking moment of betrayal—one that upends our understanding of power, predation, and agency. Ada and her father, touched by the power to heal illness, live on the edge of a village where they help sick locals—or “Cures”—by cracking open their damaged bodies or temporarily burying them in the reviving, dangerous Ground nearby. Ada, a being both more and less than human, is mostly uninterested in the Cures, until she meets a man named Samson. When they strike up an affair, to the displeasure of her father and Samson’s widowed, pregnant sister, Ada is torn between her old way of life and new possibilities with her lover—and eventually comes to a decision that will forever change Samson, the town, and the Ground itself. Follow Me to Ground is fascinating and frightening, urgent and propulsive. In Ada, award-winning author Sue Rainsford has created an utterly bewitching heroine, one who challenges conventional ideas of womanhood and the secrets of the body. Slim but authoritative, Follow Me to Ground lingers long after its final page, pulling the reader into a dream between fairy tale and nightmare, desire and delusion, folktale and warning.

Rachel Kanyid

This was definitely very interesting! A little bit of bending our world into magical realism in a way I've never read before. It was an easy listen on audiobook, and I'm actually really happy with the length of it. I think the shorter story fit it so well.

Sabrina

If you want a disturbing read, read this one. I listened to this & I had to stop what I was doing multiple times and just stand there with my eyes widened. Definitely great for those who are like me that love a thick plot with their thrillers.

This book was very strange. It tends to leave you figuring stuff out on your own which I don’t usually like in a lot of books but I weirdly enjoyed in this book. It is quite unsettling but really after reading tender is the flesh, nothing gives me the heebiejeebies anymore.  

Laura Wilson

Michelle García

I can safely say that I have no idea what that was. But it was really atmospheric and creepy, I really enjoyed it!

Fraser Simons

Dynamite prose and a compelling, weird cadence make this book a real stand-out for me. File it away as another unhinged woman narrative that is probably just my favourite thing lately—and I don’t see that changing any time soon. 

It doesn’t overstay it’s welcome. Quick and punchy. Something like fantasy. An ageless daughter and her guardian heal people as they come to them with a spiritual bent. It uses soft worldbuilding techniques, clearly uninterested in particulars and more focused on interactions, feelings, and atmosphere. 

It makes it’s point well, with a through line of theme stitched across. And then it leaves. Pretty much immediately. It’s like old horror in that ways. Central tension over? Roll credits. I could not put this down. Absolutely great. And a strong contender for an easy, fun reread in the future.

𝔢𝔪

Some of the best books are captivating stories, rife with detail and beloved characters to ferry you off into the imaginative forests of your mind. But better yet are the books that are keys — invitations to worlds and memories you'd never have built for yourself. The description of Follow Me to Ground was enticing but perplexing. I didn't know what to expect, and I'm pleased to say I still don't. I've finished it in its entirety but it is now an alive and growing thing in my mind. A space and people I return to and ponder and consult. 

I'm not sure I have the words to capture it fully. If I had to pick a genre, I would argue it was literary-informed magical realism. There was a dark, supernatural quality that felt organic, unquestionable, and unapologetic within its pages. I couldn't put it down, and it could easily be read within an afternoon. It was unpredictable in the best way — effortlessly. It made no attempt to be shocking or unnerving and yet it was. The narration was languid and yet the story was gripping. I was enthralled from the first to final word. 

The content was visceral and macabre and at times grotesque, so do be warned. But there was something lurking between the sentences, trotting between lines on the soft pads of its feet, that called to the wildness within me. It stirred something ancient into tangible awareness, and I am excited to say I'll be haunted by this book for a good time to come.

Emma Jacqueline

It's an easy read (though I guess at under one hundred pages it should be), but it's so hollow. Ironically, it was like reading the bones of a book. I saw where the author wanted the story to end up, how she wanted us to feel about the characters, what emotions she hoped the book would invoke, but its heart is missing. Without the heart, it's just pretty but barren language.

shalee olsen

What a wild ride. Very witchy, kinda creepy, and a lot of WTF did I just read?!? this book will not be for everyone. It is pretty gory, kind of strangely sexual but the writing is breathtaking. I think if you enjoyed The rules of magic by Alice Hoffman you would like this one as well.

Cat H

3.25 stars. The premise was promising. A non-human pair, father and daughter, curing humans in a small town for years. The way they are different and how they cure people was also revealed in a unique way that I enjoyed. Then the storyline takes a turn and focuses on a character I hated because I knew what he was. Ada (the daughter) is so focused on getting what she wants at any cost that she felt more human than anything. The story is written beautifully and mixed within the chapters are testimonies of people they cured. I liked seeing these two characters from other people’s perspective. So, while there are elements I enjoyed, I just didn’t find the plot that engaging. I wanted more of the curing process and for the conflict between the father and Ada to be more drawn out. Things just resolved too easily and there weren’t enough consequences for Ada’s actions. 
I can’t really recommend this book because of the context, but I can understand why certain audiences would like it. 

TW: pedophilia, incest, being buried alive

Shawna Gavas

Probably the strangest book I’ve ever read……

Beautiful writing but predictable outcome.

Zoe Smolen

Claire

4.5 stars. I know "scary" is relative, but I'd disagree with people referring to this as exclusively horror – I'd say it's more fabulism that leans into the macabre with its medical content. Rainsford does an excellent job building a sense of dread in the reader, and Ada (a not-quite-human healer whose father attempts to keep her isolated from the "normal" people they cure) is such a weird, witchy, wonderful main character. The bucolic-yet-sinister-feeling town is a perfect setting for the earth magic used.

Diana

I'm beginning to think extremely weird books just aren't my jam, because this one is weird and I didn't love it. The writing was beautiful, but the book itself was odd. But I still found it interesting. If you like slight body horror elements, but written beautifully, and surrealism, you'll probably enjoy this one.

'A tangled, gnarled, wonderfully original, strange, beautiful beast of a book' DAISY JOHNSON, author of Everything Under 'Beautiful and terrifying' SUNDAY TIMES 'Seethingly assured debut fuses magical realism with critical and feminist theory' GUARDIAN In house in a wood, Ada and her father live peacefully, tending to their garden and the wildlife in it. They are not human though. Ada was made by her father from the Ground, a unique patch of earth with birthing and healing properties. Though perhaps he didn't get her quite right. They spend their days healing the local human folk - named Cures - who visit them, suspiciously, with their ailments. When Ada embarks on a relationship with a local Cure named Samson, and is forced to choose between her old life with her father, and a new one with her human lover. Her decision will uproot the town - and the Ground itself - for ever. A poised and simmering tour-de-force, FOLLOW ME TO GROUND is a sinister vision of desire and freewill, voiced in earthy prose and eviscerating detail by an astoundingly original new writer. 'Equal parts beauty and horror, and unlike anything you will read this year' TEA OBREHT 'Fierce, palpable, hynoptic. A dazzling, troubling dream' COLIN BARRETT 'A writer to watch' METRO 'An astonishing debut heralding the career of an exciting new writer. Strange, lyrical, and arresting, this novel will draw readers into its extraordinary spell.' KIRKUS starred review LONGLISTED FOR THE DESMOND ELLIOT PRIZE 2019

Blayke 

Hailey Vinson

One of Literary Hub’s Favorite Books of the Year A haunted, surreal debut novel about an otherworldly young woman, her father, and her lover that culminates in a shocking moment of betrayal—one that upends our understanding of power, predation, and agency. Ada and her father, touched by the power to heal illness, live on the edge of a village where they help sick locals—or “Cures”—by cracking open their damaged bodies or temporarily burying them in the reviving, dangerous Ground nearby. Ada, a being both more and less than human, is mostly uninterested in the Cures, until she meets a man named Samson. When they strike up an affair, to the displeasure of her father and Samson’s widowed, pregnant sister, Ada is torn between her old way of life and new possibilities with her lover—and eventually comes to a decision that will forever change Samson, the town, and the Ground itself. Follow Me to Ground is fascinating and frightening, urgent and propulsive. In Ada, award-winning author Sue Rainsford has created an utterly bewitching heroine, one who challenges conventional ideas of womanhood and the secrets of the body. Slim but authoritative, Follow Me to Ground lingers long after its final page, pulling the reader into a dream between fairy tale and nightmare, desire and delusion, folktale and warning.

Hannah E

Lindsy Rice

Emily Perkovich

Laurena Gonzales

Een vader en dochter die geen gewone mensen zijn (ze leven in het bos, eten niet, worden maar langzaam oud en hebben bijzondere geneeskrachtige gaves) komen in de problemen als de dochter verliefd wordt op een gewoon mens.

Alethea Stoltzfus &
Follow Me to Ground by Sue Rainsford

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Alethea Stoltzfus &Follow Me to Ground by Sue Rainsford

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Alethea Stoltzfus &
Follow Me to Ground by Sue Rainsford