Review: Florida

Florida by Lauren Groff
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Genre: Literary Fiction/Short Story Collection
​Page Length: 288 Pages
Publication Date: 5 June 2018
Publisher: Cornerstone Digital
Source: NetGalley

Stars:  4 out of 5

LINKS: Amazon (UK)

ABOUT FLORIDA

Storms, snakes, sinkholes, and secrets: In Lauren Groff’s Florida, the hot sun shines, but a wild darkness lurks.

The New York Times-bestselling author of Fates and Furies returns, bringing the reader into a physical world that is at once domestic and wild—a place where the hazards of the natural world lie waiting to pounce, yet the greatest threats and mysteries are still of an emotional, psychological nature. A family retreat can be derailed by a prowling panther, or by a sexual secret. Among those navigating this place are a resourceful pair of abandoned sisters; a lonely boy, grown up; a restless, childless couple, a searching, homeless woman; and an unforgettable, recurring character—a steely and conflicted wife and mother.

The stories in this collection span characters, towns, decades, even centuries, but Florida—its landscape, climate, history, and state of mind—becomes its gravitational center: an energy, a mood, as much as a place of residence. Groff transports the reader, then jolts us alert with a crackle of wit, a wave of sadness, a flash of cruelty, as she writes about loneliness, rage, family, and the passage of time. With shocking accuracy and effect, she pinpoints the moments and decisions and connections behind human pleasure and pain, hope and despair, love and fury—the moments that make us alive. Startling, precise, and affecting, Florida is a magnificent achievement.

My Review

I like all stories, but there is something that stops me at buying short story anthologies.  Having said that - David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas felt more like a collection of short stories than a novel. And after reading this book, I can't help but wonder where all other other short story compendiums are? If Florida was not by the acclaimed new literature it girl - Lauren Groff - would I have noticed it? Probably not. 

I enjoyed all but one of these stories, and the theme of Florida was ever present without feeling forced.  Ms Groff is an exceptional writer and her words and sentences are beautiful and leave you wanting more. The really lovely thing about this book of short stories is bedtime reading consisted of indulging in one entire story each night, resulting in a sense of completion before turning off the light. Utter bliss. 

I look forward to her next writing in whichever form. 

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me a complimentary e-copy of Florida in exchange for my honest review.