Swamplandia!

Set in the sinking geography of the Florida Everglades, this novel follows the Bigtree family, a clan of alligator wrestlers struggling to maintain their failing theme park. After the death of Hilola Bigtree, the star performer, the family unit disintegrates. The father, Chief Seth, flees to the mainland to manage debts, while his eldest son, Kiwi, finds work at a rival corporate park. Meanwhile, thirteen-year-old Ava embarks on a dangerous trek through the Great Cypress Swamp to rescue her sister, Ossie, who believes she has eloped with a ghost.

Readers of magical realism and Southern Gothic fiction gravitate toward this story for its vivid depiction of environmental decay and the fragility of adolescence. The narrative offers a look at how isolation and grief warp a person's perception of reality. A reader finishes the book with an understanding of how economic desperation forces individuals to abandon their heritage, alongside a stark perspective on the physical and psychological hazards of the American wilderness.

Balanced in tone; a moderate read.

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