Raspberry House Blues

Poppy is on an odyssey. Her adoptive mother has taken off to find herself, so Poppy decides to live with her adoptive father, his new wife, Calypso, and their toddler, Sandeep, in a ramshackle raspberry-colored house. At first Poppy is distressed by the disordered household, which is unlike anything she has ever known, but soon it becomes a jumping-off point for her search for her birth mother.
Poppy discovers a great many things in the course of her search. She finds a kindred spirit in a strange, sickly woman named Becca, and an unexpected connection with the hippy, Calypso. But most of all, she finds a part of herself she didn’t even know was missing.

The Inspiration Behind the Prose

My young adult books are character-driven and all deal with the protagonist’s struggle to find her place in the world. In this book Poppy’s search for identity is through the physical and emotional search for her birth mother.

The absent mother – whether physically or emotionally absent—- is a theme that definitely permeate my young adult novels. This is because of — for me— the importance of a strong mother figure in a young person’s life. In this novel, Poppy is far from motherless—- she has the sensible and loving mother who adopted her and has raised her, a vegan new-age stepmother, a strange relationship with an aging actress who becomes her fantasy birth mother, and of course there is the never discovered birth mother to make up the last of this “mother quartet”.
– Linda Holeman

Reviews

“Most importantly, Poppy is convincing. Her story, a tale of being shaken apart so that you can put yourself together again in a stronger, healthier way, is well told and engaging.”
– Quill & Quire

“Raspberry House Blues is a powerful story … Holeman does a superb job of portraying Poppy’s conflicting emotions: alternating hope and despair, rebellion and acceptance. Raspberry House Blues is a compelling read that demonstrates once again this author’s talent in understanding and writing about young adults.”
– Winnipeg Free Press

“(Poppy’s) first-person narrative is tight and convincing, going beyond the posturing of the angry young woman where it starts, to a place that is realistic and engaging – partly because of Holeman’s knack for detail.”
– Toronto Star

“Linda Holeman takes the reader on a journey through the difficult teenage years of a girl’s life – the joy of discovery, pain of hopelessness, and true meaning of love are reflected in Poppy’s eyes… anyone looking for an excellent and emotional read would enjoy Raspberry House Blues. “
– Bloomsbury Review