- Swamplandia! was published February 1, 2011
- Publisher: Knopf
- 336 pages
'Swamplandia!' Review
Russell’s tale begins with Ava, the daughter of Chief Bigtree who owns and runs Swamplandia! with his beautiful wife and Ava’s mom, Hilola, who wrestles the alligators. Ava also has an older brother named Kiwi and an older sister named Osceola. All of the family members live on the island in the park and daily try to keep the ticket buyers thrilled. But then, sadly, Hilola contracts cancer and dies. Who will wrestle the alligators now? More importantly, who will wrestle the demons that are plaguing this family?
This story was ripe to be incredible. But was it? Sadly, no. I was getting a bit distracted a third of the way in. There is a melancholy that seeps into these pages that is hard to wrestle away. At the beginning, the book is told from Ava’s perspective, and she is a wonderful lead. But when her father and brother leave and she is left to find her older sister who has become engrossed in the occult and dating ghosts, the story whiplashes about.
Let Swamplandia! be an example that creativity and eccentricity do not necessarily keep a reader’s attention. In fact, Russell may have too many description-filled sentences mucking about. This story needed a little bit more bite and thrift to make it the classic it could have been. Russell is a new talent on the horizon. Let’s just hope she gets a better editor that can chomp down when necessary next time.
Reading Swamplandia! with a book club? Check out these Swamplandia Book Club Discussion Questions
