Today Sophia Rose is reviewing a Southern coming of age story
Enjoy!
Southern Fiction
Publisher:
Sourcebooks Landmark
Published: 7.12.22
Pages: 306
Rating: 3.5 stars
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley
Sellers: Amazon
ADD TOO: GoodReads
GoodReads Blurb:
The backwaters of Georgia hold many buried secrets. But they
won't stay buried forever.
One hot, sticky summer in Bledsoe, Georgia, twelve-year-old Kay Whitaker stumbles
across a stilt house in a neighboring marsh and upon Andy Webber, a boy about
her age. He and his father have recently moved back to Georgia from California,
and rumors of the suspicious drowning death of Andy's mother years earlier have
chased them there and back.
Kay is fascinated and enamored with Andy, and she doesn't listen when her
father tells her to stay away from the Webbers. But when Kay's sister goes
missing, the mystery of Mrs. Webber's death—and Kay's parents' potential role
in it—comes to light. Kay and her brothers must navigate the layers of secrets
that emerge in the course of the investigation as their family, and the world
as they knew it, unravels around them.
At once wickedly funny and heartbreaking, it is an immersive coming-of-age
story narrated by a feisty, smart, yet undeniably vulnerable girl reminiscent
of a modern-day Scout Finch—a character who will live in readers' hearts for a
long time to come.
Sophia Rose's Review:
Read this one with a chilled glass of your favorite while in
a cozy perch, and time to appreciate the loquacious writing style and signature
country coastal Georgia setting. I was
looking for a slow going quintessential Southern fic for a summer read on the
porch. Not many pages in and I felt this
book by new to me author was living up to the blurb’s promise.
The muggy air, the scents of the swamp, the cool treat of a
fountain soda with ice, bugs buzzing, and the lazy, sluggish watery scenery all
came through even as the youthful, crude, curious, and funny narrator, twelve-year
old Kay tried to make sense of the mysteries within her own backward family and
the new neighbors who came to the house on stilts deeper in the swamp. Kay notices things, but struggles to
interpret what she is seeing about her recluse of a mom, temper-driven lazy
father, older brothers, and odd, silent older sister let alone what she reads
off the boy and his dad just moved back from California. For some reason, her parents want her to stay
far away from Andy and his dad and that just gets Kay more interested than ever
in forbidden fruit. Kay’s curiosity
eventually tears the secrets into the open and tears up her own family- secrets
that were hidden for many years. Meanwhile,
her life is growing up poor and a little wild in a small, slow Georgia town on
the edge of the swamp.
The Floating Girls was delightfully atmospheric and drew a
picture across the mind’s eye that assaulted the reader’s senses. There was a heavy weightiness and a sense of
something just out of sight, but felt. I
loved how the author was able to achieve that with the writing.
Kay is a shocker in her irreverent, uncouth talk and her way
of accepting her life in an ‘it is what it is way’, but also not seeming to
care of the rest of her family ignored her or caring for their opinions when
she had an urge to say or do something.
I found her smartmouthed attitude and ideas funny, outloud at that, a
few times, but she’s twelve so I had the itch to give the girl an ‘act like you
got some raising’ lecture while sadly knowing that this was part of the
problem. Kay hadn’t received any real
parenting. The reader is the one who
interprets what Kay is seeing and experiencing and knowing something big,
possibly associated with a death, is being hidden out there in the swamp and
will come to light as Kay pokes into matters.
Alas, there was a point where I needed the slogging and and
stringing out of matters to get going. I
felt it stalled out particularly when the same thoughts and depictions were
swirling around that had already been churned over. Some of what happened left me unsure if it
could have happened that way and some of the resolution, particularly to the
mystery, wasn’t as crisp and cut as I would have liked.
But, in the end, this book did what it set out to do and I
felt I got what I expected and appreciated.
It hit the emotions and senses and took me to a timeless, different
place where a girl and her family story had me interested and curious. For those who enjoy gentle-paced, southern
set, personal dramas that Southern Fiction can give, I can recommend adding The
Floating Girls to your list.
Author’s Bio:
LO PATRICK is a former lawyer and current novelist living in the suburbs of Atlanta. The Floating Girls is her debut.
Sophia’s Bio:
Sophia is a quiet though
curious gal who dabbles in cooking, book reviewing, and gardening. Encouraged
and supported by an incredible man and loving family. A Northern Californian
transplant to the Great Lakes Region of the US. Lover of Jane Austen, Baseball,
Cats, Scooby Doo, and Chocolate.
Sophia’s Social Media
Links:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sophia.rose.7587
Twitter: https://twitter.com/sophiarose1816
GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13418187.Sophia_Rose
Thanks for sharing Sophia Rose
ReplyDeleteA pleasure, Debbie!
DeleteI wonder about those mysteries
ReplyDeleteI was curious and the little and big mysteries kept me reading. :)
DeleteEep! Sounds scary. But I love your review, it makes me want to sit on my porch and read in the heat! Thanks.
ReplyDeleteIt never got scary, but I felt from the beginning that there were big secrets hidden out there and there were. Yes, it is a good option for a summer porch read. :)
Delete