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Sweetwater Creek (2006)

Sweetwater Creek (2006)

Book Info

Rating
3.82 of 5 Votes: 4
Your rating
ISBN
0060837012 (ISBN13: 9780060837013)
Language
English
Publisher
harper

About book Sweetwater Creek (2006)

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 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.

Do You like book Sweetwater Creek (2006)?

Lovely little book. A good, basic read for a day. As one other said on here, Ms. Siddons books all follow the same recipe of lush, over spoken swamp and river descriptions. I have to say, that her book 'Colony', about a location in Maine much different from the South, was her best book. Even literary in many places.I loved the girl in this book, and the dogs! The character of the debutante was foolish.. and I can't help bringing to mind Ms. Siddon's sorority background: "Delta, Delta, Delta, can I helpya helpya helpya!Otherwise, I have to say Ms. Siddon's book was sticky sweet. But, I liked it somewhat, and will search for another of her books that brings a bit more meat along with it.
—Patricia dumas

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.
—Claire Fullerton

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.
—Nancy

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