Rosalind Palermo Stevenson's Insect Dreams is a stunning story, half historical fiction, half fever dream in which the noted naturalist Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717) travels from Holland to Surinam in South America. What brings her to the New World is a passion for the unknown: There are creatures that no one has seen. Creatures that have not been classified, counted, entered in the journals and the record books of science, whose shapes defy the patterns of logical construction, whose colors are as if from other worlds, self-regenerating, pure, infinite complexity and variety, sketched by God, painted by angels, life miraculously breathed into them, life, alive, free, that no one has seen, that she, she must see. The juxtaposition of memories from Holland, the interjection of the slave trade, Merian s explorations in the New World, possible love, possible impossible beasts, form a vast yet condensed canvas, told in the most sensuous language. Merian is in love with the details of the world, and so is Stevenson. Jeff VanderMeer, Locus OnLine

Insect Dreams

Rosalind Palermo Stevenson

Literature & Fiction

Rain Mountain Press

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Books by Rosalind Palermo Stevenson

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Rosalind Palermo Stevenson. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Insect Dreams