AUTHOR: Karen Russell
I have mixed feelings about this book.
The title refers to the island park in Florida's Everglades, where the Bigtree family makes a living wrestling alligators. But the untimely death of the park's star, Hilola Bigtree, wife to the Chief, mother to 13-year old Ava and her two older siblings, sends the family into a tailspin. The tourists stop coming, the Chief withdraws, leaving Ava, her sister Ossie, and their brother Kiwi to fend for themselves. But Kiwi heads to the mainland to work for their competitor, the Chief heads out on a business trip, and Ossie is dating a supposed ghost, leaving Ava to try to save Swamplandia! and her family.
The book skirts the surreal and after what seemed to me to be a slow start, it became a compelling read about grief, loss of innocence, endings, and beginnings. It wasn't quite what I was expecting, but I don't think I'll ever forget Ava and her family.
That said, this is also a flawed book. I'm a forgiving reader, so once I really got into it, halfway through, I stopped noticing the small bits that seemed off, the sorts of things that bother some readers and not others. It's an odd book in many ways, one I ultimately liked but also one that could have been much better.
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