This book was recommended so highly to me by a friend that she lent me her own copy of the book so I was excited to dive into it. It is very slow moving for the first about 130 pages so buckle in.

I was told from my friend it was a murder mystery so I was not expecting the 1950s/1960s South, let alone the extreme romanization of swamp life. There is very little murder investigation as the main focus is on nature, loneliness, and love which I found disappointing. The ending isn’t much of a twist and was predictable from the start.

CW/Spoiler - there is a running theme of physical abuse in the book and the main character is sexually assaulted.