Customer Reviews

Sweetwater Creek

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(13)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

I read "Sweetwater Creek" in one day. I couldn't put it down. Not because it was riveting in a "must know" sort of way, rather I didn't want to leave Sweetwater , South Carolina, or little Emily. They became my home. Emily had been left too many times for such a young girl, I needed to stay and make sure she would be okay. Ann Rivers Siddon's writing was so descriptive, so engaging, I became lost in this beautiful place. I angered at Walter who had everything of value before him and wanted only what was beyond his grasp. I loved Emily for desiring and appreciating all that was in front of her and for having the sense to know what was really important. Emily saw all the beauty in her world while her father was constantly in search of something outside of his. That young child had a maturity beyond her years and I had to remind myself she was just a child. In the end, this was a "coming of age" story. A story of love and all too often, loss. There is beauty between these pages and I think it's destined to be a true classic. Highly recommended!

I am a new reader of Anne Rivers Siddons' books. So far I have read "Colony", "Nora Nora", "Downtown" and "Sweetwater Creek". I was attracted to the last one partly because it involved dogs, and partly because of my facination with the South Carolina Lowcountry. I really enjoy Ms Siddon's writing style, but am becoming increasing distressed with what appears to be a "pattern" showing up in the books I've read by her, so far. That "pattern" is to have some charismatic, beautiful, brilliant character who is somehow doomed by a dreadful, twisted flaw that is like a fungus that grows and spreads to effect everything and everyone in it's ...ergo the character's...path. There was the irresponsible, flighty Nora ("Nora Nora"). The brilliant but drunken and out of control Matt Comfort ("Downtown") and the debutante daughter of a friend in "Colony" (forgot the character's name) who was so insidious, I felt soiled even reading about her. I feel pretty much the same way about the character Lulu, in "Sweetwater Creek". Don't misunderstand me: I enjoyed the character of Emily, although I agree with some reviewers here that either she was exceptionally mature for her age, or she was rather contrived and unrealistic. I loved Elvis, the dog. I liked the Aunt, and the Grandmother of Lulu. I even had some sympathy for Walter. I had no patience with the deceased Buddy, however, and little sympathy. The descriptions of the Sweetwater area were magnificent, and evoked an aura of almost being dreamlike. I didn't have any problem with Emily showing "Dog Whisperer" skills with the dogs...I have a bit of that myself. I enjoyed the general "feel" of the book. UNTIL Lulu really started "doing her thing". And her "thing" was really awful. What 20 year old burdens a 12 year old with such filth and debachery, deceit and betrayal as Lulu did to Emily? A 20 year old who came from a reasonably good, if reserved, wealthy family with a wise treasure for a grandmother to mentor her? How sick is that? I didn't feel even remotely sorry for the Lulu character. She struck me as weak, morally bankrupt, and profoundly self-centered. A fungus, indeed. It's tragic that Emily's "coming of age" had to be at the hands of such a reprobate as Lulu. I feel that perhaps Ms Siddons is a bit heavy handed with the "flawed, doomed character" schtick. I gave the book 3 stars because it's an enjoyable read (with the exception of Lulu) and it's well written. I don't think it was a total waste of time at all. But...you may feel an urge to take a long, hot, soapy shower after that hideous scene at Christmastime in the book. One might get the definate sense of having been soiled. Oh...and in case there is any confusion. Lulu was not raped. She was a willing participant, and made that clear when she ordered Emily away from the scene....Her subsequent actions were, in fact, a relief. Still, despite an occasional "eye-roll" at the story...it was an engrossing read. A few loose ends, yes. But basically satisfying, if one can survive Lulu and make it to the end.

...I would want to live in SWEETWATER CREEK, the latest novel by Anne Rivers Siddons. A magical place where dolphins venture onto land to feed and spaniels speak, a locale that is almost mystical in its unspeakable beauty: the land of the Lowcountry in South Carolina, the place 12-year-old Emily Parmenter calls home. During the summer of her twelfth year, loneliness falls over Emily like a heavy sheet, dark and constricting. Her mother left when she was very young, and her brother Buddy, with whom she read poetry and shared secrets for hours, has been dead for years. Her father and twin brothers, with whom she lives at Sweetwater Plantation, focus all their time on training the plantation's famous and widely known Boykin spaniels. This summer, Emily and her only companion, her own Boykin Elvis, are on their own.

That is, until a wealthy couple from Charleston bring their daughter to Sweetwater to look at the Boykins. LuLu Foxworth is 20 years old, ethereally beautiful and utterly wasted-looking all at once. LuLu is over-tired, her parents say, and is recovering from the flu. When they see how LuLu responds to the dogs, they ask Emily's father Walter if she could possibly come stay with them at Sweetwater for a few months, just until school starts in the fall. Walter Parmenter, who desires nothing more than to be a part of Carolina high society, sees LuLu as his ticket to an unattainable world and ardently agrees to let her stay. At first Emily resists LuLu's presence and attempts at friendship, but it isn't long before the two girls become friends, despite their age difference. And it isn't long before Emily learns that LuLu's perfect life isn't nearly what it seems, and that the young woman is hiding some terrible secrets of her own. What started out like any other summer becomes the summer that Emily grows up, begins to "know things," and recognizes that fact that she must leave her magical world of dolphins and pluff mud and face the real world.

SWEETWATER CREEK is, in one word, astonishing. In Anne Rivers Siddons' expert hands, the magical Carolina Lowcountry comes alive. The novel is thick with atmosphere, and the prose is absolutely breathtaking, lyrical and haunting, and it almost reads like poetry. Her descriptions are vivid and lively, perceptive and evocative. The novel, with all its talk of debutantes and old family plantations, feels timeless.

Siddons' characters are intricate and lovingly written. The relationship between Elvis and Emily is engaging; Emily's relationship with LuLu is complicated and well-explored. Walter is a particularly interesting creation, a man who cares more about his daughter's debut in society than he does about Emily herself. And LuLu--Well, LuLu is a charming, heartbreaking character, a girl who, although she is young, has dark desires to which she can't help but succumb. All of the characters are so real, balancing nicely with the magical unreality of the setting.

SWEETWATER CREEK is, above all, a coming-of-age story. Emily is a finely-wrought heroine, an innocent girl who is brutally introduced to the adult world. The plot meanders, but the novel's message rings clear in Siddons' verdant prose: Eventually, we all grow up; eventually, we have to stop trying to save people who hurt us. SWEETWATER CREEK is a novel not to be missed. Each page contains unspeakable beauty. As one previous reviewer said, you'll want to linger longer in this ethereal world.

Anne Rivers Siddons never fails to amaze. Her dense, colorful prose and insight into the human personality and frailties make for grand reads. Sweetwater Creek is no exception. Siddons' intricate portrait of the prepubescent Emily, her family and her friend LuLu and especially the Boykin Spaniels they raise is revealing of her understanding of the human condition and the ugliness it often raises. Don't miss this one; she's hit her mark again.

The characters engaged enough I could overlook the overusage of prose and heavy descriptive instead of plot writing, I could overlook the overwritten maturity of Emily and the silliness of Lulu's big secret. *pick up the cell phone you called mommy with and call AA and by the way tell your grandmother or father the Big, dark, dirty secret and really get help!*

But what I can't overlook is the unsatisfying ending, you can't pull readers into people's imaginary lives and never tell us a thing. Everythign in this novel was so vague...Buddy's dead, he had a disease...WHAT?? What was his disease? Why was how he ultimately died the best thing???? Was he uncurable? I assume so but we never know which is a shame since her visions and dreams with Buddy are so frequent that we would wonder this.

What happened to Lulu? Basket case I agree, however how completely horrible to draw us into her and Emily and then have her just "fade away" or be dropped she is languishing away, no one wants to read that junk. Be specific give us some details about what happened to Lulu. Throw her in rehab or kill her for goodness sakes!

What was Yancey? wAs he some weird sexual crush Lulu had? Was he a rapist? Did he force her back into his arms? I dont think so, however we're not clear on him.

Where did Emily's mom go? Her father "knew"...but never "said". This novel was horrible.

Everything is just so Vague she should have titled this idiocy piece of fiction that. She had the beginnings of a plot, 300 pages of prose and description, and no real meat/juice or satisfying conclusions.

I usually like Siddon's work but Sweetwater Creek was just TOO 'way out there' for me. The descriptions were enchanting for the first 100 pages, then I felt like I was drowning in adjectives.

The editing was pathetic. Contradictory statements, poor research. Since when is a dolphin a FISH?????

Glad I got this one from the library and didn't waste my $$$.

Let me start by saying that Anne Rivers Siddons is one of my very favorite authors, so I was excited to begin reading this. It was all I could do to finish this book--and I only did so it wouldn't be a waste of money. Many, many, eye-rolling moments, overly hokey dialogue and as usual, overly romantic descriptions of everything from the color of the creek mud to dogs to bugs. Emily might as well be a six year old child rather than an almost thirteen year old due to her extreme childishness, and LuLu emotes several times about how she'd just "die" if she had to leave Sweetwater Creek. This is an awful book, don't bother.

This is more of a 2 star read for me but the description was good overall so I give it 3 stars. It is a coming of age story of a preteen girl, Emily, whose mother left when she was three years old. Emily lives in a Lowcountry plantation with her father and brothers. A cook and Aunt give some motherly attention to Emily in this testosterone-driven house.

Oh MY where do I start? Well, the story begins very well and is quite a pageturner until Lulu, an older girl arrives and stays on the property for a summer but stays a few months more. Lulu is a troubled girl but you have no idea what trouble until she explains everything to the young Emily. The reader is appalled by it all and basically when Lulu's secrets are revealed, I think the novel goes downhill and loses worth.

This is not a typical Siddons' novel and I don't know what it is really. There is a jumbled mess of goings on ~ Lulu's high society family is too much to take and her grandmother, Grand, is crazy as a loon. There's alot of poetry flowing here and there that doesn't seem to relate to much. Emily's best, and only, friend is a dog; she talks with her dead brother and somehow is the most leveled headed character in the book.

I wouldn't recommend this book at all. I love Siddons books but this one is a doozy I'd rather forget.

I was disappointed in Sweetwater Creek, having been a fan of Ms. Siddons' other works. It was full of melodramtic, romantic prose that became overdone very quickly. She did paint a beautiful picture of Emily's domain--the river, the dolphin slide, the dogs, her home, etc. And, the characters were well defined, yet I felt that there were other potential plotlines with several characters (Aunt Jenny, Walter, Kenny Rouse, Cleta) that weren't explored. Instead, the plot focused on Lulu and the Foxwater clan, which became very strange and quite implausible. I had a very hard time buying that in 2006, a well-bred, high-excelling UVA law student would exert his bizarre demon powers over an unsuspecting Southern debutante college student and make her a sex slave and drug addict. What?! I don't think many law students have the time nor inclination for these types of things . . . If you want a great Anne Rivers Siddons read, try Peachtree Road.

Anne Rivers Siddons is one of my favorite authors. That said, I had a hard time believing the storyline. What I kept asking myself was how could a loving aunt let a 12 year old child live in an apartment loft with a 20 year old woman? The relationship between the two "girls" was strange, to say the least. I, as a mother, would never have allowed my daughters to live in an adjacent building to mine and live with someone who was clearly going through a difficult time and who was so much older and not a member of my family. The fact that Aunt Jenny left because she felt the girls were "grown" was very unbelievable. It was disappointing to me that the author had such little insight into the fact that a 12 year old is still a child and needs to be taken care of, not handed over to a person that no one really knew. I must admit that the story kept me rivited - I read it in one day and enjoyed the suspense and description of Sweetwater. I did feel, however, that there was too much description. All in all, I don't think this was one of Siddons' best books but it is intriguing and very readable.