somethingswampy

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Everything Under by Daisy Johnson is yet another novel based on a myth that I didn't know about until I finished. Arghhhh. But I think it only informs one piece of the story. The non-linear fragmented chapters rotate points of view and narrative voice (2nd person, 3rd person, etc.)⤵️

ReadingEnvy Gretel is an adult and working as a lexicographer, but constantly searching for her mother, who abandoned her 16 years ago. She is also looking for answers about a man who showed up to their boat, where they lived for a majority of her life in the Oxford canals.⤵️ 5y

ReadingEnvy She and her mom have their own vocabulary but also their own mythology, one that never leaves Gretel as she adjusts to the way the rest of the world lives. There is a lot of "fluidity" in this novel, a very obvious theme from the start, but it changes in its manifestation - the water, gender, time, reality, and so on.⤵️ 5y

ReadingEnvy I feel like this book is Offshore (Penelope Fitzgerald) adjacent with some themes in common with Elmet (Fiona Mozley) and Ghost Wall (Sarah Moss) but I found myself enjoying the reading process more than those last two.

I also think I'll count it as #somethingswampy for the #readingenvysummerreading challenge. 5y

BookwormM I loved this one the writing felt magical from the beginning 5y

ReadingEnvy @BookwormM I was hooked pretty immediately too. 5y

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