First published 2014
A thoughtful young girl grows up in the sprawling flatlands of South Florida, where reality blurs with mythology and violence lurks beneath the ordinary surface. She observes the strange parade of characters that drift through her world: a man rejected by Ted Bundy, the ancient Egyptian god Osiris, a former Caribbean slave who became a pirate, and a circus performer who lives inside a box. A dangerous babysitter threatens her safety while broken horses wander the landscape and a Seminole chief moves through nearby swamps. The girl hungers for experience but holds herself back, watching and thinking as she tries to understand the connection between violence and identity. These seemingly absurd yet familiar figures share a dark knowledge about murder and what it means to survive. The story weaves together historical events, local legends, rumors, and contemporary news as the girl navigates a world where being the "lucky one" requires first facing abduction and danger.
Genres: literary-fiction, mystery, contemporary, magical-realism
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, unreliable-narrator
Setting: South Florida, Caribbean
Period: 20th-century, 21st-century
212 pages · Kindle Edition · Dzanc Books
Content warnings: child-abuse, violence