FLUTTER: southern gothic fever dream

by Kristin Garth

Paperback

Published January 17, 2020

Reviews

[Norb Aikin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A gorgeous read, by one of the true masters of our time. The author is a poetic genius, using sonnets to tell a deft story of a young girl affected with scarlet fever. It's parts fantasy, historical fiction, and 100% wonderment. The twists and turns are handled masterfully, and the conclusion does not disappoint but ties things up rather nicely. My only (selfish) gripe is that I wish it were longer...I didn't want it to end, and in my opinion I could almost see a sequel to this.

[Briar Page · Rating 4 out of 5]

The unique, experimental format of this novella/short novel delighted me and made me excited to try new things in my own writing; the juxtaposition of the fairly rigid sonnet form and the dry remove of the explanatory footnotes were an interesting contrast with the lurid, hallucinatory magical realism of the story itself. "Fever dream" is right! Garth delves into an idiosyncratic and deeply personal mythology here*, but does so in a way that draws the reader into the logic and worldview of that mythology instead of alienating and confusing them. In this way, the footnote element kind of reminded me of plaques one might find at an exhibit of, say, Henry Darger's visual art. The sonnets themselves are like those paintings, urgent and compelling, brightly colored and crowded, sometimes a little hard to make sense out of; the explanations are short and a little clunky, a little artless by themselves, but they help clarify the narrative and logic of the pieces on display. They bring out the themes of loneliness, illness, violence, sexuality, etc. behind all that creature-and-young girl-filled chaos.

(A few of the poems are in fact illustrated--in full color!--, which is pretty cool.)

While FLUTTER could have used another copyediting pass, it feels a little ungenerous of me to point that out, given that it's published by a small press. Still, if you're the type to notice typos, be prepared to ignore some while reading this strange, haunting work.


*The major standout character/concept, for me, was a morally ambiguous demon lover who takes the shape of a teenage boy but is actually a giant bee, and who can turn people's and animals' heads into oversized flowers that slowly rot off, then bloom again the next season.

[Madison McSweeney · Rating 5 out of 5]

A phantasmagorical fantasy saga unfolds in this collection of sonnets. Kristin Garth is a true original, populating her gothic setting with demonic bees, mutant deer, feral women, and the mermaid-ghosts of poisoned fish.

[J.D. Estrada · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yet again Kristin Garth presents a poetry collection that is as compelling as unique as anything I've ever read. Flutter has echoes of Keats, Milton, and William Blake. Her sonnets tell the story of a doomed teenage girl who comes down with yellow fever. The subtitle of this book is absolutely perfect: southern gothic fever dream. It is truly a fever dream and the experimental nature of this collection works to great effect. You have sonnets driving the narrative while footnotes tell the story in a more digested manner so what I ended up doing was reading the sonnet, reading the footnote, and reading the sonnet again. When I followed this approach, I went from "that's curious" to blown away at the depth and nuances of the poems. It's not an easy read though one I highly recommend because look at the names I used above to describe this collection. I used three of the classic greats because this collection is not shy of challenging its reader, of experimenting, and of reaching for the stars. Add to this some of the most compelling creatures I've ever read about and I can't help but have to smile at Garth yet again proving that when it comes to daring poetry, she is truly elite.

[Miss December · Rating 5 out of 5]

A vibrant, lush read. I wanted to read so many sonnets over again so I could wring them out and get the full taste. It feels like it's part V.C. Andrews and part fairy tale. This is KG's stunner, and it stings just like her mythical boy in the woods.