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Sweetwater Creek: A Bittersweet Lowcountry Coming-of-Age Story – Charleston Family Drama
From New York Times bestselling author Anne Rivers Siddons comes a bittersweet and finely wrought story of friendship, family, and Charleston society.
At twelve, Emily Parmenter knows alone all too well. Left mostly to herself after her beautiful young mother disappeared and her beloved older brother died, Emily is keenly aware of yearning and loss. Rather than be consumed by sadness, she has built a life around the faded plantation where her remote father and hunting-obsessed brothers raise the legendary Lowcountry Boykin hunting spaniels. It is a meager, narrow, masculine world, but to Emily it has the storied deep-sea dolphins who come regularly to play in Sweetwater Creek; her extraordinary bond with the beautiful dogs she trains; her almost mystic communion with her own spaniel, Elvis; the dreaming old Lowcountry itself. Emily hides from the dreaded world here. It is enough.
And then comes Lulu Foxworth, troubled daughter of a truly grand plantation, who has run away from her hectic Charleston debutante season to spend a healing summer with the quiet marshes and river, and the life-giving dogs. Where Emily's father sees their guest as an entrée to a society he thought forever out of reach, Emily is at once threatened and mystified. Lulu has a powerful enchantment of her own, and this, along with the dark, crippling secret she brings with her, will inevitably blow Emily's magical water world apart and let the real one in—but at a terrible price.
Poignant and emotionally compelling, Sweetwater Creek draws you into the luminous landscape of the Lowcountry, with characters that will linger long after you've turned the last page.
At twelve, Emily Parmenter knows alone all too well. Left mostly to herself after her beautiful young mother disappeared and her beloved older brother died, Emily is keenly aware of yearning and loss. Rather than be consumed by sadness, she has built a life around the faded plantation where her remote father and hunting-obsessed brothers raise the legendary Lowcountry Boykin hunting spaniels. It is a meager, narrow, masculine world, but to Emily it has the storied deep-sea dolphins who come regularly to play in Sweetwater Creek; her extraordinary bond with the beautiful dogs she trains; her almost mystic communion with her own spaniel, Elvis; the dreaming old Lowcountry itself. Emily hides from the dreaded world here. It is enough.
And then comes Lulu Foxworth, troubled daughter of a truly grand plantation, who has run away from her hectic Charleston debutante season to spend a healing summer with the quiet marshes and river, and the life-giving dogs. Where Emily's father sees their guest as an entrée to a society he thought forever out of reach, Emily is at once threatened and mystified. Lulu has a powerful enchantment of her own, and this, along with the dark, crippling secret she brings with her, will inevitably blow Emily's magical water world apart and let the real one in—but at a terrible price.
Poignant and emotionally compelling, Sweetwater Creek draws you into the luminous landscape of the Lowcountry, with characters that will linger long after you've turned the last page.
354 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 9, 2005
337 people are currently reading
3938 people want to read
About the author
Anne Rivers Siddons
51 books1,265 followersBorn Sybil Anne Rivers in Atlanta, Georgia, she was raised in Fairburn, Georgia, and attended Auburn University, where she was a member of the Delta Delta Delta Sorority.
While at Auburn she wrote a column for the student newspaper, The Auburn Plainsman, that favored integration. The university administration attempted to suppress the column, and ultimately fired her, and the column garnered national attention. She later became a senior editor for Atlanta magazine.
At the age of thirty she married Heyward Siddons, and she and her husband lived in Charleston, South Carolina, and spent summers in Maine. Siddons died of lung cancer on September 11, 2019
While at Auburn she wrote a column for the student newspaper, The Auburn Plainsman, that favored integration. The university administration attempted to suppress the column, and ultimately fired her, and the column garnered national attention. She later became a senior editor for Atlanta magazine.
At the age of thirty she married Heyward Siddons, and she and her husband lived in Charleston, South Carolina, and spent summers in Maine. Siddons died of lung cancer on September 11, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 525 reviews
July 23, 2010
This book moved really slow….rambling on and on and never really getting anywhere. A story of Emily, a 12 year old who lives on a plantation home situated in the Lowcountry, and her friendship with a poor little rich society girl. Emily’s mother abandons the family, leaving Emily with her father, brothers and the hunting dogs that she trains and raises. Emily prefers working with the dogs and immersing herself in her surroundings, but her father wants her to be a society girl and go to Charlotte Hall – this is where Lulu comes in (she dislikes her privileged life). I appreciate that this story was told in a lyrical, poetic manner, but the story as a whole just didn’t work for me and really dragged. At times I felt as though some things were overly descriptive. This is the first book I have read by ARS, and I will give a couple of her other titles a try to see if maybe they might be different.
January 3, 2009
Why I even bothered is a mystery that shall forever haunt me.
October 29, 2017
This is a southern coming of age story. It had all the potholes this type of book needs....alcohol, neglect, abandonment, abuse, being misunderstood, the help with shoulders to cry on and so on. Emily was a young girl trying to find her place in a man's world until a socialite comes to live in the barn.
Overall, I liked this, but I feel I've read it all before. I did like the element of breeding dogs though. That was new. So 3 stars.
Overall, I liked this, but I feel I've read it all before. I did like the element of breeding dogs though. That was new. So 3 stars.
March 23, 2019
Loved this book! I put off reading it because I was afraid something would happen to one of the puppies! ...I'm a big baby like that! Kill all the people but God forgive us if something happens to an animal. Weird.. I know! Well if anyone else has this same problem, don't hesitate! Read and enjoy! 5 star read for me!
August 7, 2018
Confession: I have seen books by Siddons for years on tables in book stores and shelves of the library, but for some reason I have never picked one up before now. I grabbed the audio version to listen to while driving. It seemed a good pick for the hot days of summer, which it was. A wonderful narrator made it so much more vivid- I loved the southern accents.
I was not expecting this summery pick to move me like it did. It was a solid story and heart felt coming of age tale, which I always enjoy. Emily has a gift with the dogs her family raises and sells, sort of like a 'dog-whispering' magic. It is probably the highlight of her low-country rural ways, as she is making her way without the help of her mother and a father who cares for little more than who is lined up to purchase his pups. One summer, however, Lulu enters into her life. A full blown debutante who seems to be nothing more than a shell of herself, Emily is intrigued and also angered by Lulu and the spell she seems to have cast on the family. Offering her a place to room for the summer, she becomes part of their lives in a deep and possibly dangerous way.
The book started just a bit slow for me, but before I knew it I was charmed. I wanted to know the secrets that were being kept and I hurt for dear little Emily, not sure whether she should idolize or hate this new visitor. The ending also had a satisfying nudge to it, and the book flowed well. It is an easy read, making it perfect for your lazy days of summer. (Think Elin Hildebrand meets Elizabeth Berg type of book)
4 stars, and a note to myself not to pass over the works of Siddons so quickly- I am interested in what stories she has to tell.
I was not expecting this summery pick to move me like it did. It was a solid story and heart felt coming of age tale, which I always enjoy. Emily has a gift with the dogs her family raises and sells, sort of like a 'dog-whispering' magic. It is probably the highlight of her low-country rural ways, as she is making her way without the help of her mother and a father who cares for little more than who is lined up to purchase his pups. One summer, however, Lulu enters into her life. A full blown debutante who seems to be nothing more than a shell of herself, Emily is intrigued and also angered by Lulu and the spell she seems to have cast on the family. Offering her a place to room for the summer, she becomes part of their lives in a deep and possibly dangerous way.
The book started just a bit slow for me, but before I knew it I was charmed. I wanted to know the secrets that were being kept and I hurt for dear little Emily, not sure whether she should idolize or hate this new visitor. The ending also had a satisfying nudge to it, and the book flowed well. It is an easy read, making it perfect for your lazy days of summer. (Think Elin Hildebrand meets Elizabeth Berg type of book)
4 stars, and a note to myself not to pass over the works of Siddons so quickly- I am interested in what stories she has to tell.
April 7, 2024
It’s hard to rate deep backlist that’s not yet classic right?
I don’t know if this book hits the mark on anything it attempted to do but I loved it nonetheless.
“You see why I never want to leave here? First ocean dolphins dancing in the creek banks, and then this wonderful old man who cares more about his old dog than anything else on earth. HOW CAN YOU LEAVE A PLACE WHERE PEOPLE LOVE DOGS LIKE THAT?”
“Do you remember that time you had to come get me at camp in the mountains and everybody thought I was just homesick and being a baby? It wasn’t that at all. It was that I just couldn’t breathe away from saltwater, from the river and the creek. I still can’t really.”
“Did you know that the ratio of salt to water in seawater is exactly the same as the ratio in human blood? No wonder so many people are addicted to the sea.”
So, I will continue on with this author. The characters are probably a bit stereotypical for me but I sense that ARS loves dogs and the sea as much as me. Her stories reflect this.
I don’t know if this book hits the mark on anything it attempted to do but I loved it nonetheless.
“You see why I never want to leave here? First ocean dolphins dancing in the creek banks, and then this wonderful old man who cares more about his old dog than anything else on earth. HOW CAN YOU LEAVE A PLACE WHERE PEOPLE LOVE DOGS LIKE THAT?”
“Do you remember that time you had to come get me at camp in the mountains and everybody thought I was just homesick and being a baby? It wasn’t that at all. It was that I just couldn’t breathe away from saltwater, from the river and the creek. I still can’t really.”
“Did you know that the ratio of salt to water in seawater is exactly the same as the ratio in human blood? No wonder so many people are addicted to the sea.”
So, I will continue on with this author. The characters are probably a bit stereotypical for me but I sense that ARS loves dogs and the sea as much as me. Her stories reflect this.
October 23, 2008
Ok book. Regarding a girl coming of age in the South. Messed up life with a mother that leaves, the death of a brother and a wacked out girl that comes to stay at her home and takes on a role of "big sister" but lacks the morality needed to direct a young girl. Sorry but not good with crazies!!
February 15, 2013
Having recently read Anne Rivers Siddons' latest novel "Burnt Mountain" I was in a mood to revisit some of her other recent novels, including this one, "Sweetwater Creek".
The creases on the spine of my paperback copy indicated I had certainly read it, but for the life of me, I couldn't remember anything about it.
Which, as it turned out, was wonderful, because it was like coming to it for the first time all over again. But, what on earth pre-occupied me so much the first time around that I couldn't remember this wonderful tale of a young girl growing to womanhood in the company of her beloved spaniel, Elvis, on the banks of Sweetwater Creek?
Emily is twelve when her coming-of-age summer in the South Carolina Lowcountry begins. She is the only daughter of Walter Parmenter and has twin brothers. Her mother left when Emily was little, and her favourite brother, Buddy, died under tragic circumstances some years previous.
When her father discovers Emily's gift for training the young spaniels bred in the family kennels, she is given the responsibility for starting them off on their lives as hunting dogs. Unlike her father and brothers, Emily doesn't like duck hunting, but she loves training the dogs and enjoys being entrusted with their care.
Then Lulu comes to the old family plantation, the daughter of a wealthy and influential old money family, and Emily's childhood idyll is changed forever.
Don't for a moment mistake this for a young adult's novel. There are family secrets and shadowy pasts galore amongst the residents of the old plantation house on Sweetwater Creek. And amongst the drama and Emily's fears for the world outside her safely cocooned surroundings there are moments of incredible beauty and the magic of nature.
I loved Sweetwater Creek, and this time, I'm sure, I'll never forget it. Besides, it won't be long, I suspect, before I'll be visiting Emily's world once again.
The creases on the spine of my paperback copy indicated I had certainly read it, but for the life of me, I couldn't remember anything about it.
Which, as it turned out, was wonderful, because it was like coming to it for the first time all over again. But, what on earth pre-occupied me so much the first time around that I couldn't remember this wonderful tale of a young girl growing to womanhood in the company of her beloved spaniel, Elvis, on the banks of Sweetwater Creek?
Emily is twelve when her coming-of-age summer in the South Carolina Lowcountry begins. She is the only daughter of Walter Parmenter and has twin brothers. Her mother left when Emily was little, and her favourite brother, Buddy, died under tragic circumstances some years previous.
When her father discovers Emily's gift for training the young spaniels bred in the family kennels, she is given the responsibility for starting them off on their lives as hunting dogs. Unlike her father and brothers, Emily doesn't like duck hunting, but she loves training the dogs and enjoys being entrusted with their care.
Then Lulu comes to the old family plantation, the daughter of a wealthy and influential old money family, and Emily's childhood idyll is changed forever.
Don't for a moment mistake this for a young adult's novel. There are family secrets and shadowy pasts galore amongst the residents of the old plantation house on Sweetwater Creek. And amongst the drama and Emily's fears for the world outside her safely cocooned surroundings there are moments of incredible beauty and the magic of nature.
I loved Sweetwater Creek, and this time, I'm sure, I'll never forget it. Besides, it won't be long, I suspect, before I'll be visiting Emily's world once again.
September 29, 2012
Some books I just don't finish, because at this point in my life I'm reading for enjoyment. If I feel I HAVE to finish a book.... well, that just doesn't make sense - to have to force myself to finish (that was during the English major days). This book I just got to a point where I didn't find the characters "attachable" enough for me to get involved in the book. (And I was about 3/4 through, where Emily has to help in a situation.) I didn't care. So I quit reading it. To me, it's sad when that happens, because I love reading. But I just didn't attach to these characters. (Except for Elvis; I did care about Elvis!)
March 2, 2009
Siddons has long been one of my favorite authors - the way she describes the nature of the area she's writing about is so lush and lavish....has always made me want to explore the Outer Islands area. The nuances of relationships are captured by her way with words and makes me really care about what happens to them.
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June 7, 2009I would have to say this was the worst book I have ever read in my life. The author spent too much time describing stuff, with no story line. It was painful and boring and I'd rather have bamboo shoots stuck in my fingernails or be tarred and feathered before I'd reccommend this book to anyone. Maybe prisoners would like it. Aggggh! I feel like I wasted a week of my life on it. I want to tear the book into little pieces and have one of the boynton dogs pee on it. I wish i could rate it less than no stars!
September 26, 2019
A good story nothing more than that. One you can put down and pick up easily
September 15, 2010
This was a sweet and enjoyable coming of age tale set in the Carolina’s low-country.
Emily Parmenter is twelve years old, living on her family’s plantation with her distant father and two older brothers. Her mother disappeared while Emily was a toddler and her adored older brother Buddy committed suicide, leaving her bereft and lonely. Her only salvation comes from training the family’s well known Boykin hunter spaniels. Emily seems to have an innate talent for this and her life is in a simple pattern of school and working the dogs, her only friends her beloved dog Elvis, her Aunt Jenny and the housekeeper Cleta. Into this quiet world comes the golden Lulu Foxworth, a debutante in need of a place to recover from what appears to be a nervous breakdown.
In order to impress the wealthy Foxworth family Walter Parmenter invites Lulu to spend the summer working with Emily training the dogs. Lulu jumps at the chance and soon spins her magic web around the family. With her arrival comes life and laughter to an empty household, but it also brings dark secrets that ultimately changes everything. Permeated with sadness the story is also about friendship, love, betrayal and finding one’s way in the world.
Emily Parmenter is twelve years old, living on her family’s plantation with her distant father and two older brothers. Her mother disappeared while Emily was a toddler and her adored older brother Buddy committed suicide, leaving her bereft and lonely. Her only salvation comes from training the family’s well known Boykin hunter spaniels. Emily seems to have an innate talent for this and her life is in a simple pattern of school and working the dogs, her only friends her beloved dog Elvis, her Aunt Jenny and the housekeeper Cleta. Into this quiet world comes the golden Lulu Foxworth, a debutante in need of a place to recover from what appears to be a nervous breakdown.
In order to impress the wealthy Foxworth family Walter Parmenter invites Lulu to spend the summer working with Emily training the dogs. Lulu jumps at the chance and soon spins her magic web around the family. With her arrival comes life and laughter to an empty household, but it also brings dark secrets that ultimately changes everything. Permeated with sadness the story is also about friendship, love, betrayal and finding one’s way in the world.
May 3, 2014
I didn't want to finish this book. It was so very good. Siddons just writes in a way that "you're there". You just sink right into the setting and you're there. You can smell the salty air, marsh, pluff grass, tidewater pools, and wet dogs.
This book's setting was close to Folly Beach and the Parmenter family raised Boykin hunting dogs. The daughter was between 12 and 13 and without a mother. She had a way with the dogs, one dog in particular, Elvis, who was her constant companion.
Raised in a house of all men, her father and two brothers, she was often forgotten. Her Aunt Jenny came to stay with them for a time after her mother left and one such time Emily was forgotten and left at home all by herself. Her oldest brother had died leaving Emily with a profound sadness since he was the one family member she was close to. They had shared a love of reading.
The book really became interesting after Lulu, daughter of one of the wealthiest families in Charleston, came to stay in the upcycled loft area of the barn. This young woman (in her 20s) befriended Emily and taught her things that maybe she shouldn't have yet known as a 12 year old.
This book's setting was close to Folly Beach and the Parmenter family raised Boykin hunting dogs. The daughter was between 12 and 13 and without a mother. She had a way with the dogs, one dog in particular, Elvis, who was her constant companion.
Raised in a house of all men, her father and two brothers, she was often forgotten. Her Aunt Jenny came to stay with them for a time after her mother left and one such time Emily was forgotten and left at home all by herself. Her oldest brother had died leaving Emily with a profound sadness since he was the one family member she was close to. They had shared a love of reading.
The book really became interesting after Lulu, daughter of one of the wealthiest families in Charleston, came to stay in the upcycled loft area of the barn. This young woman (in her 20s) befriended Emily and taught her things that maybe she shouldn't have yet known as a 12 year old.
May 9, 2014
This is a sweet, rather slow-moving story full of descriptive scenery depicting South Carolina's Low County. Sweetwater is an old plantation, now used by its owners as the head quarters of a family business dedicated to the breeding and training of prized duck hunting dogs named Boykin Spaniels. The plantation rests near Sweetwater Creek , and is the setting for a twelve year old girl's coming of age story. Raised by a distracted father and two older brothers with whom she has little connection, Emmy's heart longs to heal from the past, which involves the death of a beloved brother as well as her mother's abandonment. Left to her own devices, Emmy is a natural dog trainer that lives in an isolated world until Lulu Foxworth comes to stay with the Parmenter family for the summer, eventually turning their lives upside down.
Sweetwater Creek is a rich, coming of age story told beautifully and authentically with fully developed characters who reside in an uncommonly soulful setting. If you like a book that reads like a song of the South, this is for you.
Sweetwater Creek is a rich, coming of age story told beautifully and authentically with fully developed characters who reside in an uncommonly soulful setting. If you like a book that reads like a song of the South, this is for you.
June 8, 2013
SPOILER ALERT......This wasn’t as good as her others. I felt the middle of the book dragged. This is a story of Emily. She lives in a big house with her Father and twin brothers. They train Boykin Spaniels for hunting. Emily has a gift and is excellent at it. Her mother left them when she was very young and Emily’s brother Buddy shot himself a couple years ago. Emily is dealing with all that. Then Lulu shows up. Lulu is a girl from the rich part of town. She is weak and needs a place to recouperate. She immediately falls in love with the dogs and everything about them. At first Emily does not like her. Does not want her around. But then become friends. The odd thing about the ending is, Lulu disappears back into her dark life she had before she came to Sweetwater. But there is nothing that is resolved. Emily ends up getting accepted to “Charlotte Academy” which is what the father wanted, not her. And that’s how it ends. I still don’t get it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 15, 2009
I came across this book at hospice, the day Pop died. I snatched it. A few friends had suggested that they thought i might like Siddons' books. For some reason, i thought they were going to be light fare, and maybe a little predictable, but i was pleasantly surprised. Her voice is original and authentic, and the subject matter was not at all what I thought it would be. She completely captured the magical time that is a girl turning from twelve to thirteen. Made me want to raise dogs on a low-country farm and watch dolphins in the tidal creeks. Will definitely be picking up another of her books.
August 18, 2009
Reader, Anna Fields, was very good, however, the book overall did not really grab me. I have read other books by Anne River Siddons, and really enjoyed them. I'm not sure if it is me changing, or her work is, but this book did not seem to have the same interest in its characters for me. Nor did the actions of many of the characters make sense to me within the "personality" she crafted for them. I was glad when it was over.
It will be a 2 star overall, but this is unfair to the narrator, as her job was done very well.
It will be a 2 star overall, but this is unfair to the narrator, as her job was done very well.
February 19, 2013
I didn't finish this book. I will push myself to finish most books, so it's very rare that I find a book I can't finish.
This book just seemed to drag on and nothing ever happened! I managed to read 34% of the book and not once found myself lost in the story. It was so boring. I even stepped away from the book for almost month so I could try again. Didn't help. It was just as bad.
This book just seemed to drag on and nothing ever happened! I managed to read 34% of the book and not once found myself lost in the story. It was so boring. I even stepped away from the book for almost month so I could try again. Didn't help. It was just as bad.
August 16, 2009
I enjoyed this book, but feel like all of her books follow the same recipe.
August 27, 2020
I love this author. She pulls you right into the story and her settings are breathtaking. Deep, thought provoking story.
March 15, 2025
I have read quite a few books by Anne Rivers Siddons and consider her one of my favorite authors. This one had all of the elements I love about her writing - the evocative prose, meticulous descriptions of the setting that make you feel like you’ve been there, deep relationships - but from the very first page, it felt different. I think the reason for this was that the main character, Emily, was a young girl, and while there were adult relationships occurring around her that had an impact on her, she was not the one struggling with the abusive boyfriend or unfaithful spouse. Rather than a mature woman taking charge after the devastation of a failed marriage, Emily is an innocent who doesn’t truly understand the nuances of romantic love, but is intimately acquainted with loss. This spoke to me on a completely different level from any of ARS’s other books. I loved it.
November 18, 2018
I loved that this book was set in the Low Country of rural Charleston. The story was full of references to lowcountry recipes, wildlife, decorating and traditions. Beyond that, it was a coming of age story that was riddled with secrets and despair.
September 16, 2019
Good story, BUT too much descriptive detail of houses and countryside. Way too long. Could have bee 50 pages shorter imo.
August 15, 2021
Absolutely love this book! Great characters, and love the side stories of the area where Emily lives, Anne Rivers Siddons is a great story teller!
September 17, 2022
I liked this book. I read it thinking it would be a summer read but the plot was really good. I worried about the dog, but Elvis did fine.
February 7, 2019
3 stars. There were things that I really enjoyed in this story. At the very top of that list are the magical, lyrical descriptions of the setting: the river, flora and fauna, the feel of the air, the whisper of the marsh grasses. I never knew that dolphins would actually herd bait fish at low tide, then beach themselves to feast on them! I found it fascinating. I was tempted to go back through the book and just reread every paragraph that painted a picture of the beautiful SC island setting of this story.
I really liked and felt for Emily, although she kept seeming older than her 12-going-on-13 years. Lulu troubled me from the get-go, because she seemed to have no discretion about how to relate to a 12-year-old in a suitable fashion. I cringed as she confessed various things to Emily, and put Emily in situations that a young girl should not have to deal with. I was appalled at the lack of supervision and involvement in Emily's life by Jenny or Cleta - they did not speak up and intervene when they sensed that Lulu was exposing Emily to things inappropriate for her.
The men in this story had very flat personalities full of stereotypes: the clueless guy, the caveman with a big libido, the dark evil good-looking guy who ruins a girl, the distant distracted father. Yes, the father eventually starts to take notice of Emily - somewhat inexplicably - but it's too little too late.
WARNING: SPOILER ALERT:
The last few chapters of this book really troubled me, and that's why I did not give it 4 stars. Just as Lulu seemed to be coming into her own, taking a stand for herself, setting an example for Emily, she suddenly gives into the evil influence of her former boyfriend, and by the end is a drugged-out girl who lets that bad guy rape her. Number one, I just couldn't buy it, that she would just literally lay down for him and disappear. I was envisioning a moment of empowerment and alliance between the girls, as perhaps Lulu had accidentally (or intentionally) killed Yancey. But her giving in just drained the strength from all the gains that had been made in their relationship. Number two - So in addition to her mom, Buddy, Lulu's grandmother, and Jenny, she is now going to lose her one friend? I was expecting an empowering moment It was such a cruel twist in the story that it actually made me angry. For Emily's sake, and also at reading all this way, beginning to enjoy the story, and then discovering yet another painful loss in her life.
I really liked and felt for Emily, although she kept seeming older than her 12-going-on-13 years. Lulu troubled me from the get-go, because she seemed to have no discretion about how to relate to a 12-year-old in a suitable fashion. I cringed as she confessed various things to Emily, and put Emily in situations that a young girl should not have to deal with. I was appalled at the lack of supervision and involvement in Emily's life by Jenny or Cleta - they did not speak up and intervene when they sensed that Lulu was exposing Emily to things inappropriate for her.
The men in this story had very flat personalities full of stereotypes: the clueless guy, the caveman with a big libido, the dark evil good-looking guy who ruins a girl, the distant distracted father. Yes, the father eventually starts to take notice of Emily - somewhat inexplicably - but it's too little too late.
WARNING: SPOILER ALERT:
The last few chapters of this book really troubled me, and that's why I did not give it 4 stars. Just as Lulu seemed to be coming into her own, taking a stand for herself, setting an example for Emily, she suddenly gives into the evil influence of her former boyfriend, and by the end is a drugged-out girl who lets that bad guy rape her. Number one, I just couldn't buy it, that she would just literally lay down for him and disappear. I was envisioning a moment of empowerment and alliance between the girls, as perhaps Lulu had accidentally (or intentionally) killed Yancey. But her giving in just drained the strength from all the gains that had been made in their relationship. Number two - So in addition to her mom, Buddy, Lulu's grandmother, and Jenny, she is now going to lose her one friend? I was expecting an empowering moment It was such a cruel twist in the story that it actually made me angry. For Emily's sake, and also at reading all this way, beginning to enjoy the story, and then discovering yet another painful loss in her life.
January 25, 2013
At the bottom of a large shopping bag full of used book treasures, I found Anne Rivers Siddon’s Sweetwater Creek. I had been wanting to dip into a quintessential southern novel after having read an interview of Southern author Pat Convoy, so it was perfect timing.
It took me a while to get into the slow, but steady, drawl of the plot. The book concerns a prepubescent girl’s plight to come of age in tension filled circumstances. She is being raised by a father—He loves her but hates how much she reminds him of her absentee mother and is ill equipped to try to help her mature—and brothers, who share a couple of sweaty, pulsating brain cells between the two of them. That characterization should probably be softened as they too have been deprived of their mother’s presence for most of their lives. The lack of information provided about where their mother ended up and what she ended up doing was sort of irritating, though, the author implies that she is alive, somewhere. The prepubescent girl “finds” herself with the assistance of primarily her aunt Jenny and a young woman named Lulu. Though I didn’t love this novel, the descriptions of the Southern heat, the water, the smells, the foods etc. were simply intoxicating.
It took me a while to get into the slow, but steady, drawl of the plot. The book concerns a prepubescent girl’s plight to come of age in tension filled circumstances. She is being raised by a father—He loves her but hates how much she reminds him of her absentee mother and is ill equipped to try to help her mature—and brothers, who share a couple of sweaty, pulsating brain cells between the two of them. That characterization should probably be softened as they too have been deprived of their mother’s presence for most of their lives. The lack of information provided about where their mother ended up and what she ended up doing was sort of irritating, though, the author implies that she is alive, somewhere. The prepubescent girl “finds” herself with the assistance of primarily her aunt Jenny and a young woman named Lulu. Though I didn’t love this novel, the descriptions of the Southern heat, the water, the smells, the foods etc. were simply intoxicating.
December 28, 2010
Siddons' language is so lush and evocative that - even without the able narrative weaving of a young girl's coming-of-age story - South Carolina's Lowcountry marshland comes vividly alive. Through rich and sensual descriptive force of climate, colors, smells, flora, water, sky and creatures, the author provides strong images that transport one into this world near Edisto Island, south of Charleston. The young protagonist is easy to accommodate despite being in a world and situation very unique for her age. Affinity with the lovely, intelligent Boykin spaniels; the seasonal shifts of the Lowcountry; the love and redemptive forces of poetry; and the growth and importance of relationships add to the pleasure and enchantment I found in Sweetwater Creek.
April 14, 2009
It has been a while since I’ve read an ARS book and I saw this one (that I had not read) at the library the other day. I was attracted also by the cover quote from Pat Conroy. “She ranks among the best of us and delivers the goods – the whole fabulous package-with every book she writes.” I love Siddon’s use of words and descriptive language. She makes the low country of South Carolina so inviting. This is a coming of age story of Emily, a 12 year old girl who has been left. Her family breeds and trains Boykin spaniels, a hunting dog. I was glad to be off work today and I spent most of the day devouring this book.
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