Madapple

Meldrum, C. (2008). Madapple. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

This is a very bizarre book that sort of defies description.  Aslaug lives with her mother in rural Maine, and they are totally cut off from the outside world.   Her mother is some sort of botanical genius, so they forage for a living, and her education has been very nontraditional - she knows several ancient languages and tons of botany, but nothing of the modern world.  Her mother, Maren, seems insane, and then dies of cancer.  Aslaug is accused of her murder, but it is determined that she overdosed herself on jimsonweed but had terminal cancer, so Aslaug goes to find her aunt and cousins in a nearby town.  The aunt is an evangelical preacher, and her cousin Sanne appears to be as crazy as Maren was.  Her male cousin, Rune seems to have incestuous feelings for Aslaug.  One storyline involves her quest to find out who her father was.  Aunt Sara claimes her ex-husband Mikkel fathered her, but Sanne (and Maren) believe there was an immaculate conception.  Another storyline involves theological discussions on Christianity's co-opting of many pagan ideas.  Aslaug quickly ends up pregnant at age 15, like her mother before her, but has no memory of ever having sex, other than a dream of her cousin Rune.  Sanne convinces her it was immaculate conception again, though she has actually drugged the household so that Rune would impregnate her.  Bizarre!  She has the baby, and they raise her communally, along with another teen pregnant by Rune.  Rune and this girl eventually run off with the baby, causing Sanne and Sara to commit suicide and Aslaug to be charged for their murder.  Rune finally saves to day, and I guess they all live happily, incestuously ever after.  Definitely one of the weirdest books I've read in a while.  It was like a mix of DaVinci Code and V.C. Andrews.