Poor Peoples Flowers Irene Blea

By Winter Flack

Irene Blea, New Mexico native who earned her Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Colorado Boulder, has released her second novel in the Suzanna series set in 1920’s New Mexico, “Poor Peoples’ Flowers”. The novel picks up with Suzanna, now an adult, husband returning after a two year absent. Suzanna runs away from her life and leaves her children behind in hope of finding a better life. Violence and loneliness permeates life for women in Northern New Mexico, with few options and even fewer ways to escape. The church was the only place to turn for help in those days, for anyone.

The language is authentic and beautifully crafted to fit the times. The description breathes life into the New Mexican countryside. The characters are richly emotional with diverse issues of their own. A Humanities scholar, Blea takes an in-depth look at what drives to make the sometimes-horrible decisions they have to make, and the guilt that comes with life choices. This novel is more then just a look into the past, it’s a message of why society needs the changes that were brought and we need to fight to keep improving the conditions people live in.

An emotionally raw look at abuse that until so recently was considered normal this profound novel will make you re-evaluate your life and that of those around you.

Read more at New Mexico Entertainment Magazine