Virginia Hartman’s debut novel, “The Marsh Queen” is a treasure trove of birds, swamps, moss, and herbs. Add to that family secrets, stalkers, and murderous bad guys and the result is an interesting read.
Smithsonian bird artist Loni Murrow returns to her Florida
pan-handle hometown after her mother suffers a fall and starts displaying signs
of dementia. Her relationship with her mother has always been tense. In
addition, returning home dredges up painful memories of Loni’s father’s suicide
when Loni was 12 years old.
Officially recorded as an accident, Loni keeps the facts of her
father’s death from her brother, who was an infant when Boyd died. But as she
is going through her mother’s things, she finds a cryptic note from Henrietta
saying it’s time that they talk about what really
happened to Boyd. Loni begins searching for this Henrietta, whom everyone in
town denies knowing.
As Loni spends week after week in Florida, she takes long canoe
trips through the swamp looking for models for her free-lance work. Hartman’s
precise and beautiful detail put the reader in the quiet swamp, the only sounds
the oar’s dip in the water and the occasional bird calling its mate.
Although the mystery of Henrietta and her note drive the plot, the
narrative does drag a bit. At least 100 pages could have been cut from the book’s
384. After the third canoe trip through the swamp, we have the idea. And Loni
has lots of breakfasts and lunches with her brother where she learns a little
bit more to aid her search for the truth about her dad. Several of these
conversations could have been combined.
However, readers looking for beautiful prose, well-drawn
characters, and intriguing mystery will enjoy “The Marsh Queen.”
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