Florida by Lauren Groff
Florida is a collection of short stories that explores the physical and emotional landscape of Florida. The stories are centered around themes of domesticity versus wildness, nature as uncaring and uncontrollable, claustrophobic security versus unmoored rootlessness, and Florida as both a geographical place and a state of mind, fractured and contradictory, where people live with both ambivalence and passion.
The book takes the reader on a journey through the hazards of the natural world, where storms, snakes, and sinkholes lurk at the edges of everyday life. But the greater threats and mysteries are of a human, emotional, and psychological nature.
Among those navigating it all 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.
Groff weaves the tropical, hot, extraterrestrial stories of the state of Florida into an intimate book, one that pins families and the self against the backdrop of an inordinate, muggy, scary land. The collection opens with ‘Ghosts and Empties,’ a perfect opening tale for this book.
The first person narrator, a woman walking the streets of her increasingly-violent neighborhood at night instead of spending time with her husband and sons, observes the land of Florida while contemplating her own inner rage and worry.
Useful takeaways:
- Florida is a collection of short stories that explore the physical and emotional landscape of Florida.
- The book is centered around themes of domesticity versus wildness, nature as uncaring and uncontrollable, claustrophobic security versus unmoored rootlessness, and Florida as both a geographical place and a state of mind.
- The stories take the reader on a journey through the hazards of the natural world, where storms, snakes, and sinkholes lurk at the edges of everyday life.
- The book is an intimate portrayal of families and the self against the backdrop of an inordinate, muggy, scary land.
What I Liked
Wow – what a haunting but beautiful collection of stories. Florida is a microcosm of America and I think this book speaks so much to what life is like for so many Americans.
What I Did Not Like
Short stories aren’t usually my thing – but this writer pulled it off.
