A Uniquely Disappointing Circus

I chose to read Swamplandia, Karen Russell’s debut novel, mostly because of its very unique premise. The book is set in Florida, and its main protagonist is an young girl Ava, the youngest child of a family who owns an alligator theme park in the Everglades. The park’s main attraction is the show Ava’s mother performs, and when she dies of cancer, the park suffers financial ruin. Ava’s brother, Kiwi, leaves the park in order to join it’s biggest rival, World of Darkness, and save Swamplandia! in the process. He quickly learns that minimum wage with no education does not make much money, and I easily found him to be the most enjoyable character. Ava’s father also disappears from the park, leaving Ava and her older sister Ossie, who believes she dates the ghosts who inhabit the park,  alone to fend for themselves. When Ossie disappears, leaving a note explaining she has run away with her dead boyfriend, Ava procures the aid of a mysterious drifter she names The Birdman–a character who the reader immediately distrusts but whom Ava has no choice but to latch onto. The two set off in search of Ossie, presumably to “the Underworld.” The book is told in 13-year old Ava’s point of view, and though Russell’s plot was intriguing, I found myself bored at times with the backstory of the mistreatment of the Everglades by the government and the long descriptions of the glades. Though the story is probably not meant to be “realistic”, so to speak, I still found myself wishing I could be done with the book and move on to something faster. I do wonder if maybe in my early dislike of the book I missed something more profound as most of the book’s reviews have been glowing, but I like what I like…and I didn’t like this one!