Sweetwater Creek [Hardcover]

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.