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Sea Creatures

September 4, 2013 by Elizabeth

5M4B disclosure

sea creaturesSea Creatures opens in 1992, with Georgia returning to her home-town of Miami with husband Graham and 3-year-old son Frankie in tow, in search of a new beginning. Things have sort of fallen apart. Graham didn’t get tenure, Georgia’s college-advising business has failed, and Frankie has stopped talking entirely over the past 6 months or so. It’s obvious that the family has been through some sort of trauma, and is hoping to move on. They move in with Georgia’s dad and step-mom temporarily while they buy a rickety houseboat, which they anchor in the canal behind her parents’ home. Graham has a job studying extreme weather patterns at a marine research facility–a second chance for his career, albeit one that necessitates his leaving home for months on end. Gradually, the reasons for their trauma become clear–Graham’s debilitating sleep disorder which threatens his career and even more, a condition called parasomnia that has already had terrible consequences. Georgia has insomnia herself, and in fact the two of them met at a sleep disorder clinic. It’s amazing to me that they had a child together.

They settle in. Georgia reconnects with childhood friends and takes a part-time job running errands for a hermit who lives in Stiltsville, a collection of houses built on stilts out in Biscayune Bay, which can be reached only by boat. (Aside: I googled pictures of these and now I want to live there too. I will be a hermit too. It will be lovely. The children can visit on weekends).

Charlie works as an artist. Georgia and Frankie both develop friendships with Charlie, who is fatherly with Frankie and teaches him about the creatures of the sea. I also enjoyed the descriptions of Charlie’s artwork, as Georgia must occasionally sort through it and choose selections for gallery showings. She takes Frankie with her out to this house which is surrounded entirely by water, which in some ways is out of character for her as she is a fiercely-protective mother, working with him to teach him sign language and learning it herself, very focused on him to the expense of her time with Graham. As Frankie visits various specialists they pronounce he is dealing with selective mutism, a condition in which  he can physically speak but doesn’t. This has ramifications for Georgia, and she finds herself having to face what it will take to keep him safe.

Susanna Daniel is a gorgeous writer, with prose that is layered and dense with meanings, the sort of descriptions into which one can glimpse hidden, deeper things. This is the second book of hers I’ve read and reviewed, and I love her writing. She creates strong, believable characters and plots that keep you guessing, while keeping things grounded, if that makes sense. Georgia, Graham, and Charlie all face difficult, even unthinkable decisions, and while they may not choose rightly, their choices fit who they are. This is not a book about cliches. So that when Georgia realizes she can’t keep everyone safe, you know she is right.

Sea Creatures is beautifully written and plotted. I didn’t want to put it down. I highly, highly recommend it.

One of you can win a copy for yourself. Just start by putting your email address in the Giveaway Tools form below (It’s easy — don’t worry about the change!), and then leave a comment telling me–would you want to live in a house set above an ocean? I think I would, but then of course there are those hurricanes. The giveaway is closed.

  • The winner of The Girl You Left Behind is #2 Jenna Evans.

Check out our current giveaways. Subscribe to our feed. Follow us @5M4B on Twitter or on Facebook.

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Filed Under: Elizabeth, Fiction

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Comments

  1. riTa says

    September 4, 2013 at 3:05 pm

    I lived on a ship for five years! It was a good time.

  2. Anne says

    September 4, 2013 at 3:17 pm

    Prefer land and by the water is bear enough.

  3. amyc says

    September 4, 2013 at 3:22 pm

    No way! I have a fear of a big body of water.

  4. Jenna Evans says

    September 4, 2013 at 4:41 pm

    Not sure if I am using the new format the right way…… But I am not sure that I would want to live over water- beautiful scenery but I think I’d be way too nervous about other stuff……..

    • Jennifer says

      September 4, 2013 at 4:51 pm

      Jenna — as long as you indicated on the little giveaway tools device that you did leave a comment, and then “submit entry,” your entry is logged. If you didn’t do that, you can still just go in and do it. Thanks for bearing with us while we try this out!

  5. Marjorie R. says

    September 4, 2013 at 4:42 pm

    I would love to, however, I would not be able to get house insurance if anything happened.

  6. paige Bacon says

    September 4, 2013 at 5:19 pm

    Simply put, yes.

  7. Ellen B says

    September 4, 2013 at 7:26 pm

    not crazy about the ocean

  8. Sheila K. says

    September 5, 2013 at 10:48 am

    I would love to but unfortunately Florida’s hurricanes make it a precarious way to live!

  9. Jessica Tan says

    September 5, 2013 at 4:37 pm

    No!! Maybe for a summer home though. . .

  10. Cindi says

    September 6, 2013 at 9:05 pm

    Above the water? A houseboat, maybe!
    Thanks, Cindi

  11. Liz says

    September 7, 2013 at 3:00 pm

    Love the water. Absolutely.

  12. Mozi Esmes mom says

    September 9, 2013 at 2:27 am

    Absolutely; there is something relaxing in watching the waves; realizing the awesomeness of God and knowing He’s got me covered…

  13. DEBIJOT says

    September 9, 2013 at 2:25 pm

    No way, give me land any time.

  14. Kerrie Mayans says

    September 9, 2013 at 10:20 pm

    Absolutely! That would be amazing!

  15. Anita Yancey says

    September 12, 2013 at 6:28 pm

    No, I wouldn’t like to live in a house over the ocean. I am afraid of the water and can’t swim.

  16. samantha w says

    September 13, 2013 at 8:17 pm

    Might be pretty cool. especially if you had see through floors and could watch everything swim by.

  17. Megan Parsons says

    September 14, 2013 at 6:11 pm

    Yes that would be amazing!

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