The Indigo – Heather Siegal

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It’s January in New England, and Jett is tending to her mother in the hospital. Just like she’s done every morning before school for the last two years, since the accident. Jett’s life changed forever on that fateful day; not least because her mother was in a coma, somewhere between life and death. As Jett curled up on the bed beside her, desperate to be close to her, she fell asleep. And that’s when she saw it. The Indigo.

Over the next two years of her life, Jett’s remaining family (her grandmother, aunt, uncle and cousins) start to think she’s become delusional. When she saw The Indigo, she felt a pull to her mother; could feel her mothers presence. She’s tried to convince her friends and family that her mothers body is nothing more than a shell, that her spirit and soul is ‘up there’, but they don’t believe her. They push pills on her, force her to go to therapy. All Jett wants is for one person to believe her so that she can try to find The Indigo once again.

That’s when she meets Farold. A new boy in school from Trinidad. He’s unusual in that he’s wearing sandals and a vest in the mid-winter, but Jett likes him immediately. He posts a flier for a new club after school – The Quantum Club – and for unknown reasons, Jett attends.

In Farold, she finds a somewhat kindred spirit. He’s inquisitive, and he doesn’t make fun of her need to get to The Indigo. He supports her, even assists in running experiments to help her get back there. They’ve tried out ten different techniques, all of which failed, when Jett’s aunt informs her that come May, they’ll be turning off her mother’s life support.

The thing with The Indigo, is the writing. It’s subtle, sweet and doesn’t skirt around the subjects of grief and loss. It’s not afraid to talk about a struggling family, emotionally, financially and with each other’s relationships. What Siegal has created here is a beautiful book, filled with believable and relatable characters who have real feelings. The buds of a crush flit around Jett, even as she’s still grieving her mother and is angry with her aunt. It’s refreshing to see a character actually allowing themselves to feel more than one thing at a time; a true reflection of the complexities of a teenagers hormones and emotions.

I loved this book. I really, really did. I loved the hoarding black Labrador, Crow, who made me chuckle on more than one occasion (drawing odd looks from my husband). I felt for Jett, for the impossibleness of her situation, the hopeless anger she felt towards her aunt. Siegal has written a triumph.

S. A

This book was reviewed as part of the Reedsy Discovery Reviewer program. You can read the original review here

You can buy The Indigo by clicking on the name.